 |
|
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon With its colorful cache of purples and oranges and reds, COLLARD GREEN SLAW is a marvelous mood booster --- not to mention just downright delish
April 18, 2014
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Clarifying one of the greatest philosophical conundrums in theology
John Ericson: Trying hard to be 'positive' but never succeeding? Blame Your Brain
The Kosher Gourmet by Julie Rothman Almondy, flourless torta del re (Italian king's cake), has royal roots, is simple to make, . . . but devour it because it's simply delicious
April 14, 2014
Rabbi Dr Naftali Brawer: Passover frees us from the tyranny of time
Eric Schulzke: First degree: How America really recovered from a murder epidemic
Georgia Lee: When love is not enough: Teaching your kids about the realities of adult relationships
Gordon Pape: How you can tell if your financial adviser is setting you up for potential ruin
Dana Dovey: Up to 500,000 people die each year from hepatitis C-related liver disease. New Treatment Has Over 90% Success Rate
Justin Caba: Eating Watermelon Can Help Control High Blood Pressure
April 11, 2014
Rabbi Hillel Goldberg: Silence is much more than golden
Susan Swann: How to value a child for who he is, not just what he does
Susan Scutti: A Simple Blood Test Might Soon Diagnose Cancer
Chris Weller: Have A Slow Metabolism? Let Science Speed It Up For You
April 9, 2014
Jonathan Tobin: Why Did Kerry Lie About Israeli Blame?
Samuel G. Freedman: A resolution 70 years later for a father's unsettling legacy of ashes from Dachau
Jessica Ivins: A resolution 70 years later for a father's unsettling legacy of ashes from Dachau
Matthew Mientka: How Beans, Peas, And Chickpeas Cleanse Bad Cholesterol and Lowers Risk of Heart Disease
April 8, 2014
Dana Dovey: Coffee Drinkers Rejoice! Your Cup Of Joe Can Prevent Death From Liver Disease
Chris Weller: Electric 'Thinking Cap' Puts Your Brain Power Into High Gear
April 4, 2014
Amy Peterson: A life of love: How to build lasting relationships with your children
John Ericson: Older Women: Save Your Heart, Prevent Stroke Don't Drink Diet
John Ericson: Why 50 million Americans will still have spring allergies after taking meds
Sarah Boesveld: Teacher keeps promise to mail thousands of former students letters written by their past selves
April 2, 2014
Dan Barry: Should South Carolina Jews be forced to maintain this chimney built by Germans serving the Nazis?
Frank Clayton: Get happy: 20 scientifically proven happiness activities
Susan Scutti: It's Genetic! Obesity and the 'Carb Breakdown' Gene
|
| |
Jewish World Review
March 8, 2007
/ 18 Adar, 5767
March madness
By
Cal Thomas
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | It's time for that annual ritual known as March Madness. No, this March Madness isn't about college basketball. It's about how much money Congress plans to attach to appropriations bills to curry favor back home with their pet projects.
This is the Democrats' first opportunity now that they're back in the majority to prove they meant it when they promised to do things differently. This after 12 years of Republican control in the Congress and its failure to do anything about the misspending it derided when Democrats ran the place before.
My favorite Washington watchdog group, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), has just published its annual "Pig Book," which chronicles some of the most outrageous and wasteful government spending.
After seven years of record-setting pork, the "2007 Congressional Pig Book" reports a decline in pork spending, thanks largely to Republican Senators Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Jeff Sessions of Alabama and Jim DeMint of South Carolina, who prevented nine appropriations bills from being enacted last December. Some credit also goes to two Democrats, David Obey of Wisconsin, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, and the king of pork, Robert Byrd of West Virginia, both of whom imposed a moratorium on earmarks for the remainder of fiscal 2007.
This is a new fiscal year and pork to a member of Congress is like a chocolate cream pie to someone on a diet. The temptation can be too great to resist.
The biggest temptation to lard on more pork — and thus an indication of just how serious the Democrats are about real spending reform — will come as soon as Congress takes up the president's war supplemental appropriations bill. President Bush has proposed $99.6 billion in supplemental spending for the global war on terror and an additional $3.4 billion for reconstruction related to Hurricane Katrina.
| FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO INFLUENTIAL NEWSLETTER |
| Every weekday NewsAndOpinion.com publishes what many in the media and in Washington consider "must-reading". HUNDREDS of columnists and cartoonists regularly appear. Sign up for the daily. It's free. Just click here. |
|
Brian Riedl of The Heritage Foundation says among the rumored add-ons are between $5 billion and $7 billion in farm subsidies (even though farm incomes are at record highs), $1 billion for the State Children's Health Insurance Program, $1 billion for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (I thought Joe Kennedy and Hugo Chavez were helping with that) and many more questionable expenditures that manage to find their way into appropriations bills, even when there are supposed to be spending caps. Congress brags about its spending caps, but it knows how to get around them. It merely declares an "emergency" and spends the money on what it wants.
Last March, Congress attached $14 billion in additional unrelated spending to the president's war on terror supplemental bill, but after a credible veto threat by President Bush, Congress relented and removed the pork.
CAGW estimates Congress saved between $12 billion and $15 billion last year by eliminating more than 7,000 earmarks. Unfortunately, it wasn't a real saving because members spent the money on other programs.
Here are just two examples of the kind of stuff taxpayers need to watch out for from last year's budget because they could be back this year: $1,190,000,000 for 20 F-22A fighter jets. Last summer, according to CAGW, "the General Accounting Office sent a 13-page letter to then-House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman C.W. (Bill) Young, urging Congress to stop funding the jets due to their high cost and the fact that the aircraft is out of date." Such things never deter Congress when it spends other people's money. There's much more waste in the Defense Department budget, which can be found in detail in the "Pig Book" (cagw.org).
A personal favorite is $4.5 million in last year's budget for Homeland Security for the misnamed Secure Border Coordination Office. This would be money well spent if it actually made the border more secure, but no one seems to have the political will to do what is necessary to achieve a secure southern border.
There's so much more and it's all in the "Pig Book" and on the Heritage Website (heritage.org). If you care how your money is often misspent and you want to keep the Democrats from following the Republicans, who followed the Democrats in larding up appropriations bills, you will inform yourself and act accordingly.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Cal Thomas is the author of, among others, The Wit and Wisdom of Cal Thomas Comment by clicking here.
Cal Thomas Archives
© 2006, Tribune Media Services, Inc.
|
|
Columnists
Toons
Lifestyles
|
