by Kerry Thomas
March 28, 2007
We’ve all seen movies where one poor character keeps getting picked on, put down, and generally beaten up through the whole movie. Then, almost at the end, there comes the moment of truth. We watch with hopeful anticipation, as this meek character finally finds his courage, balls up his fist, and punches the privileged bully right on the nose. The audience cheers.
Americans cheer for underdogs.
In 2001, when Republicans won the White House and retained
control of the Congress, Rush Limbaugh said, “The adults are back in
charge.” After witnessing the shame of
the Clinton presidency, we thought we once again had elected representatives who
had matured beyond adolescence. As a
wise parent would do, we allowed our Congress to make mistakes, in the hope
that they would learn from their mistakes, and not repeat them in the future.
As voters, it was and is our responsibility to watch over
our public servants in Congress, to admonish them when they go too far, and to
hold them accountable for their actions.
Absent such accountability, members of Congress become little more than
spoiled children.
Today’s elitist leftists, most of them Democrats, are
behaving like spoiled children. They’re
exhibiting no self-control. They rant
and rave senselessly when they don’t get their way. And when they are confronted with a difficult situation, as is now
the case in Iraq, their solution is to pick up their ball and go home.
Spoiled children have little concept of money, how it’s
earned, the true cost of things, and who foots the bill for all their reckless
spending. The same can be said for the
Democrats in Congress. Years ago, Wisconsin’s
liberal Congressman David Obey was quoted as saying “A few million here, a few
million there, pretty soon we’re talking about real money.”
Liberal Democrats believe that all of life’s problems can be
solved by throwing money at it. Your
money. Every answer they give to a
problem involves spending your money for you.
They will never admit that most of the problems they’re trying to fix
have their root causes in previous government fixes to problems. Witness the problems with today’s HMO’s,
which were Senator Teddy “Chappaquiddick” Kennedy’s solution to how you would
pay for your medical care. Of course,
Teddy didn’t have such worries. He
relied on his family’s trust funds (and later, you, the taxpayer) to pay for his
medical care.
The latest waste of your tax dollars can be found in
a bill Congress calls H.R. 1591 “Making Emergency Supplemental Appropriations
for FY 2007.” This is the
bill that is supposed to fund the military operations in Iraq and
Afghanistan. But it goes way beyond
that simple objective.
The total amount originally
requested for this bill was $115,397,000,000.
This amount includes $105,770,00,000 for the Department of Defense and $9,627,000,000
for other agencies and programs.
By the time this
bill came out of the House (by a vote of 218-212) it had swelled to
$142,609,000,000, an increase of $27,212,000,000 over what was originally
requested. The House approved $120,567,000,000
for the Department of Defense, and $22.042,000,000 for other agencies and
programs.
The House added more
than $22 billion in pork products to your bill. Make no mistake. It’s
your bill. You’re the ones who are
paying for this “emergency” spending.
And because it’s an emergency supplemental, this money does not count
against the federal budget deficit.
Just a few of the
highlights of this pork:
Hurricane Livestock Indemnity Assistance:
Provides $25 million to the Secretary of Agriculture to “resume the 2005
Hurricanes Livestock Indemnity Program to provide additional compensation to
livestock producers” in the area declared a disaster area related to Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita, to those who suffered losses in excess of the maximum amount
of assistance authorized under the indemnity program. The total amount of
assistance that an eligible producer may receive for additional livestock
losses may not exceed twice the maximum amount of assistance authorized under
the program.
Irrigated Crop Assistance:
Provides $15 million for assistance in connection with losses for 2005 and 2006
weather conditions, to producers with respect to irrigated crops in the area
declared a disaster related to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Hurricane Citrus Program:
Provides $100 million to provide assistance to citrus producers in the area
declared a disaster related to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, who suffered losses
in excess of the maximum amount of assistance authorized under the 2005
Hurricanes Citrus Program.
NASA:
Provides $35 million to NASA, under the “exploration capabilities” account, for
“expenses related to the consequences of Hurricane Katrina.” The bill
also provides that of amounts previous appropriated to NASA, $48 million may be
used to reimburse hurricane-related costs incurred by NASA in FY 2005.
Corps of Engineers:
Provides $1.3 billion to Corps of Engineers for continued repairs on the levee
system in New Orleans.
Small Business Administration: Provides $25 million to the SBA for
additional funding to carry out the Disaster Loan Program.
FEMA:
Provides $4.3 billion for disaster relief at the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA), $4 million of which is to be transferred to the Office of the
Inspector General. The bill extends from 12 months to 24, the time frame
in which FEMA can provide funds to pay for utility costs resulting from the
provision of temporary housing unties to Hurricane Katrina evacuees. In
addition, the supplemental would eliminate the state and local matching
requirements for certain FEMA assistance (in connection with Hurricanes Katrina,
Rita, Wilma, and Dennis) in the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and
Florida, and provides that the federal portion of these costs will be 100%.
Office of Inspector General:
Provides $10.2 million for the Office of Inspector General for “necessary
expenses related to the consequences of Hurricane Katrina and other hurricanes
of the 2005 season.”
K-12 Education Funding for Hurricane
States: Provides $30 million to Louisiana, Mississippi,
and Alabama for recruiting and compensating teachers and principals in schools
affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, for the implementation of
“high-quality formative assessments,” and the “establishment of partnerships
with nonprofit entities with a demonstrated track record in recruiting and
retaining outstanding teachers and other school leaders.”
Higher
Education Funding for Hurricane States: Provides $30
million in assistance to institutions of higher education located in a disaster
area related to the 2005 Gulf of Mexico Hurricanes.
HUD Indian Housing:
Provides $80 million in tenant-based rental assistance for public and Indian
housing under HUD.
Crop Disaster Assistance:
Provides such sums as necessary in agriculture assistance to producers
experiencing crop losses in 2005, 2006, or 2007 due to bad weather.
Farmers experiencing losses in more than one year would be required to choose
only one year for which they wish to receive loss compensation. A large
portion would be provided in the form of direct payments to agriculture
producers who experienced more than 35% crop loss in expected production.
The payment would be 50% of the market price. Producers would not be
eligible for these payments if they had failed to purchase available crop
insurance. The bill ensures that these disaster payments would not
exceed 95% of a crop’s worth in the absence of hurricane destruction.
Livestock Assistance:
Provides such sums as necessary to provide compensation for livestock losses in
2005, 2006, and 2007, due to a disaster, including wildfire in the state of
Texas and other states and blizzards in the states of Colorado, Kansas,
Nebraska, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. Cattlemen experiencing losses in more
than one year would be required to choose only one year for which they wish to
receive loss compensation.
Livestock Indemnity Payments:
Provides such sums as necessary to make livestock indemnity payments to
producers on farms experiencing livestock losses due to hurricanes, floods,
anthrax, and wildfires in the state of Texas and other states, and blizzards in
the states of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Oklahoma.
Cattlemen experiencing losses in more than one year would be required to choose
only one year for which they wish to receive loss compensation. Payments
would be not less than 30% of the market value of the livestock on the day
before their death.
Spinach:
Provides $25 million for payments to spinach producers that were unable to
market spinach crops as a result of the FDA Public Health Advisory issued on
September 14, 2006. The payments would not exceed 75 percent of the value
of the unmarketed spinach crops.
Emergency Conservation Program:
Provides $20 million for the cleanup and restoration of farmland damaged by
freezing temperatures during a time period beginning on January 1, 2007 through
the date of enactment.
Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC)
Program: Provides $283 million for payments under the
MILC program, to extend the life from the program for one year, through
September 30, 2008. MILC provides payments to dairy farmers when milk
prices fall below a certain rate. Although the MILC program expired at the
end of FY 2005, Congress authorized a two-year extension in the Deficit
Reduction Act of 2005, which is set to expire at the end of FY 2007 (September
30, 2007).
Peanut Storage Subsidies:
Provides $74 million for peanut storage payments, to extend these payments through
2007. The Peanut Subsidy Storage program, which is set to expire this
year, pays farmers for the storage, handling, and other costs for peanuts
voluntarily placed in the marketing loan program. Under the storage
program, the Credit Commodity Corporation pays a storage fee of $2.71 per ton,
per month, plus a one-time $35 per ton handling fee for peanuts placed in the
marketing loan program.
Aquaculture Operations:
Provides $5 million for payments to “aquaculture operations and other persons
in the U.S. engaged in the business of breeding, rearing, or transporting live
fish to cover all or a portion of the economic losses incurred by the operation
or person as a result of the emergency order issued by the Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service on October 24, 2006, prohibiting the importation of
specified species of live fish from Ontario and Quebec, Canada, and the
interstate movement of these same species of fish from New York, Pennsylvania,
Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, or Wisconsin to outbreaks of
viral hemorrhagic septicemia.”
FDA Office of Women’s Health:
Provides $4 million for the Office of Women’s Health at the Food and Drug
Administration.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA): Provides $60.4
million for the National Marine Fisheries Service under NOAA to be distributed
among fishing communities, Indian tribes, individuals, small businesses,
including fishermen, fish processors, and related businesses for assistance to
“mitigate the economic and other social effects caused by the commercial
fishery failure, as determined by the Secretary on August 10, 2006.” According
to the Committee Report, this funding is to be used to provide disaster relief
for those along the California and Oregon coast affected by the “2006 salmon
fishery disaster in the Klamath River.”
Rescinding Homeland Security Funding:
Rescinds $89.8 million in funding that, according to the Committee, “would have
lapsed in FY 2006 if it were not for a provision in the 2007 Appropriations Act
allowing it to remain available through FY 2007.”
Wildland Fire Management:
Provides a combined $500 million for the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S.
Forest Service “urgent wildland fire suppression activities.”
Avian Flu:
Provides $969 million for the Department of HHS to continue to prepare and
respond to an avian flu pandemic. Of
this funding, $870 million is to be used for the development of vaccines.
Secure Rural Schools Act (Forest County
Payments): Provides $400 million to be used for
one-time payments to be allocated to states under the Secure Rural Schools and
Community Self-Determination Act of 2000. This program provides a funding
stream (known as forest county payments) to counties with large amounts of
Bureau of Land Management land, in order to compensate for the loss of
receipt-sharing payments on this land caused by decreased revenue from timber
sales due to environmental protections for endangered species. The
authorization for these forest county payments expired at the end of FY 2006,
and counties received their last payment under the Act in December 2006.
LIHEAP:
Provides $400 million for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program
(LIHEAP).
H5N1 Vaccine Compensation:
Provides $50 million to compensate individuals for injuries caused by the H5N1
vaccine, which is a flu vaccine.
Payment to Widow of Rep. Norwood:
Provides $165,200 to Gloria W. Norwood, the widow of former Rep. Charlie Norwood
(R-GA), an RSC Member, who passed away last month. In the Emergency
Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2005 (H.R. 1268), Congress provided $162,100
to Doris Matsui, the widow of former Rep. Robert Matsui.
Capitol Power Plant:
Provides $50 million to the Capitol Power Plant for asbestos abatement and
safety improvements.
Liberia:
Provides that money appropriated for FY 2007 for the Bilateral Economic
Assistance program at the Department of Treasury may be used to assist Liberia
in retiring its debt arrearages to the International Monetary Fund, the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the African
Development Bank.
NTSB Lease:
Amends a provision in the continuing resolution, which provided $78.9 million
for the National Transportation Safety Board, Salaries and Expenses, to
“include amounts necessary to make lease payments due in FY 2007 on an
obligation incurred in 2001 under a capital lease.”
Other policy
provisions in this bill:
Minimum Wage Increase:
Increases the federal minimum wage from $5.15-per-hour to $7.25-per-hour over
two-plus years—a 41% increase. Yields $16.5 billion in
private-sector costs over five years.
Mariana Islands:
Applies a federal minimum wage to the Commonwealth of the Northern
Mariana Islands and increases it steadily until it matches the new $7.25
mandate for the 50 states.
Tax Increases and
Shifts: Implements several tax increases and shifts,
including: denying the lowest maximum capital gains tax rate for certain minors
and adults, extending the suspension of interest payments due to the IRS, and
adjusting the deadlines for corporate estimated tax payments. Costs
taxpayers $1.380 billion over the FY2007-FY2017 period.
If you’ve read this far, is there any possibility you could
think Americans are under taxed? All
these programs were included in this EMERGENCY spending bill. Clearly, Congress is spoiled rotten.
In addition, this
bill usurps Executive powers to conduct war, mandating a date certain for
withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Iraq:
Funds Withheld:
Withholds 50% of the funds appropriated by this bill for the Iraq Security
Forces Fund, the Economic Support Fund (except for the U.S. Agency for
International Development’s pro-democracy funds for Iraq), and International
Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement until the President has made the required
certification above.
Withdrawal from Iraq:
If the President is unable to make the above certification by October 1, 2007,
or if the above report indicates that the required conditions in Iraq have not
been met, the Secretary of Defense would have to commence the withdrawal of the
Armed Forces from Iraq and complete such withdrawal within 180 days. Even
if the President makes the required certification, the troop withdrawal from
Iraq would have to begin by March 1, 2008, and be completed within 180
days. Funds in this Act or any other Act would be immediately available
to fund the withdrawal.
Prohibited Return to
Iraq: Once the withdrawal from Iraq is
complete, U.S. Forces could not be sent to or retained in Iraq for any purpose
except for certain diplomatic and training missions, or limited, targeted
special actions.
Conservatives don’t believe in violence. But they do believe in self-defense,
self-control and disciplining children.
When just a slap on the wrist doesn’t do the job, it’s time to take
Congress to the woodshed and administer a good whippin’.
My thanks go to the staff at the Republican Study Committee and the staff of Congressman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) for their work in compiling this information.