. . . show him (and it will be a him, won’t it) this:
It’s from Taxpayers for Common Sense, which itemized all the earmarks in the current budget; full spreadsheet here. (h/t Drum)
If you ever hear some MS pol blathering about earmarks . . .
March 3rd, 2009 @ 1:02 pm - by lotus · 8 Comments
Filed Under: Herald & Examiner
The Clarion-Ledger (in an editorial today) says that MSU is #1 in the nation in receiving earmarks, and that Ole Miss is #2 in the nation in receiving earmarks.
NO wonder their BlueBerry Cider at the Cheese Store is worth fifty dollars and cost less than five.
Well, my position against earmarks has been expressed here on numerous occasions. The fact that MS and our universities have benefitted from the practice matters not to me. It is a terrible way to appropriate and spend the taxpayers money. IF a project has merit and should be funded, then it should be a part of the regular body of a bill so that it can be debated and properly considered before voting to approve it. Under the current earmark system we have now, the buck stops with no one. The President claims the greater good was served, even if he would not have approved of the earmark spending in isolation (in other words, he did not want to hold up other meritorious provisions in a bill due a an earmark or several earmarks). The President does not have line item veto power. All other members of Congress, other than the sponsoring earmark culprit, claim the same thing — the greater good was served. The earmark culprit thus triumphantly brings home the bacon to his/her constituents —the ones who elected him/her and will re-elect him/her. The earmark culprit does not give a damn what others across the country think of the earmark or whether it is good for the country as a whole. Its all part of a tired, worn out political game.
I would bet that the figure for all monies spend on earmarks under the guise of “the greater good” would be shocking.
AFOTL: I think we are all beyond being shocked now. But you make good points.
Ben, unfortunately, yours is a good point as well. I suppose nothing should truly be shocking at this point with the large monetary numbers being bantered about these days as if just chickenfeed — a billion here, a billion there, ………
I seriously wonder how often the rest of the country’s congressional delegations would vote to send money to Mississippi?
Fishwater you are right to wonder. The third world/banana republic nature of Mississippi rudley defies all the money that our Congressional delegation has able to reap for us. Why would anyone send more money our way unless our delegation remains somewhat powerful?
Six electoral votes may not be enough to encourage a lot of cash being thrown our way. imho.