The Pro-Pork Republicans Make Their Stand

Business as usual.

Mmmmmm…bacon.

Shrimp-fried?

I like mine cooked in the microwave on paper towels. Crispy, not greasy. I know this sounds socialist, but I prefer Canadian bacon.

I don’t drink, but I would bet a bacon-flavored beer would be a hit.

A couple of years ago my wife said she’d bake me whatever kind of cake i wanted for my birthday. I chose a Texas sheet cake. As a joke, while she was in the shower I cooked up some bacon and laid strips all over the icing. She wasn’t amused.

Michael,
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As usual your bias is showing.
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Only 7 out of 59 Democrats voted against earmarks.
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33 out of 41 Republicans voted against earmarks
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And you want to make an issue about the 8 Republicans who are against a 3 year freeze but most of which will vote for the 2 year freeze.
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Michael no matter how hard you try to spin this story, you have again proven, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you are an Ideologue

For those fiscal conservatives outraged at Republican spending on pet projects….

If that’s what ‘outraging fiscal conservatives’, I question the meaning of the label ‘fiscal conservative’.

A true fiscal conservative would recognize that spending is necessary (and be able to distinguish between necessary and non-necessary spending), driving towards the greatest efficiency in the use of our tax dollars in order to meet the needs of his or her fellow Americans.

A true fiscal conservative understands that ‘big’ government isn’t the problem…that it is inefficiency, corruption, cronyism, and demagoguery which are the real issues when it comes to how our tax dollars are abused.

A true fiscal conservative would embrace cost controls on health care goods and services, and even a universal coverage option, considering how much less costly such systems are to run.

A true fiscal conservative would support energy independence, development of green technology, and definitely would push an agenda that attempts to mitigate the global rise in temperatures, as action now is cheaper than reacting later.

A true fiscal conservative understands that markets need regulation in order to operate efficiently and fairly…and that there are penalties for acting in bad faith.

A true fiscal conservative would not support a $700-billion increase in the deficit in order to give a handout to a small percentage of the population that controls a disproportionate amount of this country’s wealth…or try to derail attempts to pull the country out of a recession for political reasons…or makes policy decisions based on short-term outcomes…or…or…

I see all these people calling themselves ‘fiscal conservatives’.

I don’t think they have that quite right.

Is anyone really surprised? The Pork-u-lus Senate with a few exceptions have always “brought home the bacon” to their districts for way longer than I have been alive. It is what gets them re-elected, year after miserable year.
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This could be an issue that those on the right and the left could agree on, and put a stop to if we really wanted to work together.

As a joke, while she was in the shower I cooked up some bacon and laid strips all over the icing.
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Mmm. I present you with…
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…[the Maple Bacon Bar], a “Raised yeast doughnut with maple frosting and bacon on top.”
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And for all you doubters out there, it’s pretty damn good.

Take an economics class and then at your idiot remarks, even you would be embarrassed by the lack of common sense you display

Another one of those excuses for you to get excited about, it amounts to a hill of beans. You act as if the money wouldn’t be spent anyway and would be the first to complain if it wasn’t spent on what you want.
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Military base in your back yard? Some Military contract for a company in your State? Funding for a school district in your area? Repair of a US highway through your town?
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The list is endless, and you would demand your share.

…even you would be embarrassed by the lack of common sense you display
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Coming from someone with your lack of reason, propensity for lying, willing blindness to simple fact, and absence of integrity your insults are meaningless, Freeper.
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Take an economics class and then at your idiot remarks…
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Please tell me how adding $700 billion to the deficit is something that could be considered an exercise of prudence in government spending and debt. Or any of the other things I’ve mentioned.
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On second thought, never mind. As much as I would enjoy a good discussion about this, I realize that you’re not capable of having one, Freeper.

“The Pork-u-lus Senate with a few exceptions have always “brought home the bacon” to their districts for way longer than I have been alive. It is what gets them re-elected, year after miserable year.”
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Gosh, and I thought what got “conservative” Senators re-elected year after miserable year was their constant bleating about “big government” and “fiscal conservatism” and the permanent, perfect ignorance and gullibility of their base.

Let’s see, how many Democrat Senators signed onto vote for this bill again?

These are the ideals fiscal conservatives used to have. Then the religious arm of the republican party took over and fiscal conservative got twisted up–it now means “anything that is good for the already wealthy or well-off”. If it happens to be good for the country, good for the middle class or the poor, somehow it’s not fiscally conservative.
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When it comes to pork, if that practice were ended, lawmakers would simply have to ask, as in introduce a spending bill, each and every time they wanted something for their state. I happen to think the most necessary things would get done if this were the practice, but we may not things like we do here in the “Tom Ridge Information Center” which is closed more often than is open.

You’re quite right, grape: fiscal conservatism is dead in the Republican Party. As Reagan tax policy guru and rational-human-ergo-conservative-apostate Bruce Bartlett put it (link),

As I detailed last week, [Bush Jr.] and a Republican Congress created a massive new entitlement program, Medicare Part D, to buy the votes of seniors and buy themselves reelection in 2004. Among those voting for this monstrosity were many Republicans still in Congress today who are unjustly considered to be staunch fiscal conservatives, including incoming Speaker of the House John Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, and House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan.

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Republicans don’t care about the deficit. Nor, as you point out, grape, do people like Evan Bayh, who want to add $700 billion to the deficit by preventing taxes from returning to their 1990s levels.
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Happily, though, earmarks really aren’t very important at all.
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Sure, they somehow provoked John McCain’s ire, and the Tea Partiers have decided that they hate them, but they’re not actually very much of the budget. There’s actually an argument to be made that earmarks increase transparency– if elected officials don’t determine which projects are funded, then it’s a bunch of faceless bureaucrats in Washington DC. Horrors! (Thank god they’ve had their pay frozen, though, that will simultaneously not impact the deficit and not placate anyone).
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So, this is a misleading post– earmarks may well be pork some or most of the time, but the simplistic “earmarks = pork” frame is false– with a misleading premise– that Republicans are “fiscal conservatives” who care about the deficit. This is, of course, false– otherwise, they wouldn’t have voted for Bush-Cheney, who argued that “deficits don’t matter.”
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But, I’m dealing in facts and history; MSM reporting is about branding and buzzwords. The GOP is the “fiscal conservative” brand in their minds, so they regurgitate the falsehood. The GOP has been arguing that “earmarks = pork,” so they type down that false framing as if it were fact.

Rusty,

In reply to @5, I think you are right on point. It is not an accident that the longest serving senators for both parties are known for “bringing home the bacon” than any constructive legislation.

While the amount of earmarks is a relatively small portion of the budget, I think the symbolism is important. It is clearly something open to abuse. If a project is worthy, it should part of the regular budget.

I will give you some credit, Rusty. You are the only Conservative on this blog (and there are not any in Congress) who thinks the Defense budget should be cut along with the rest of it. While I don’t ascribe to your across-the-board cuts, I think Americans and Congress realize that if we want to get our fiscal house in order, we are going to have to take some harsh medicine and make cuts somewhere.

While my wife has called me a “closet Republican”, I have always considered myself a Liberal. Where I differ from Conservatives is where I would make the cuts. I would not cut off benefits for the unemployed and the poor, but I would look at where the rich and the middle class get the most benefit.

Look, I am a middle class guy, and I have received much more benefit from the government than any welfare queen. I am not saying, “Hey I’ve got mine, you go get yours.” I am willing to forgo Social Security for a couple of extra years to keep it solvent. Just don’t let it affect those on disabilities or those who receive because of a deceased parent. Heck, I will even be means-tested for Medicare even though I want to keep something to pass on to my children. (Don’t keep me alive if I am in a vegetative state.) Home interest deduction. I love having it, but if it has to go, it has to go. Estate Tax – well, as a lawyer,I know the tricks to get around it, and I would personally benefit from its elimination. However, if I have to give a little to Uncle Sam of something I got by accident of birth, I am willing to do it.

“Let’s see, how many Democrat Senators signed onto vote for this bill again?”
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7 out of 57 and two have already been fired by their constituents (can’t read or do simple math?). What has that got to do with lying Republicans and their idiot followers who swallow their mendacious, meaningless clap-trap whole every single time?

Business as usual…for the 48!!! Democrats for and a mere 8 Republicans. So much for “Change”. Very creative and naturally misleading title.

Crushed, letting people KEEP THEIR OWN MONEY is NOT a handout you twisted freak! A handout is when you steal other people’s money and then use it to buy votes from people that you have made dependent on you because EVERY policy you have come up with for the last 70 years from education to welfare makes them unmotivated and ignorant.

5.4, just because the estate tax doesn’t affect you NOW doesn’t make it a good idea. You do realize that Congress could make living wills illegal, and then the estate tax would take most of your children’s inheritance. Oh sure that will never happen, just like we never thought we would see a 10% sales tax, or trillion dollar deficit.
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But hey, since you feel so generous towards government, why not just give them the money for your home interest deduction, your medicare, and keep working and paying those taxes. The government needs you man.
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There are many people that could not afford a home without the home interest deduction. And personally I believe that the government doesn’t deserve more than 10% of anyone’s income. It not the government’s money. And, it’s not the government’s business how people legally spend their money.

liberal-you seem to have a fixation on those less fortunate but for the record, earmarks are usually going to corporations to achieve the Republican stimulus plan which is more unneeded military stuff, e.g., spare engines and more aircraft than the military wants, to keep people working in the bright red southern states,

You are getting your hate groups mixed up. Earmarks-good for business, ergo, good for the country. Helping out of work people survive the Bush recession and the 8 years of foolishness under Cheney-Bush is bad since these people will just go and waste the money on such foolishness as food and heat.

Go and find another cause.

Crushed, letting people KEEP THEIR OWN MONEY is NOT a handout…
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The wealthier you are, the more you make use of the commons…regulatory structures, roads and rails used to transport goods, etc. The more you use, the more you should pay…and not paying for what you are using is the equivalent of getting a handout.
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…you twisted freak!
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Flatterer.
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…because EVERY policy you have come up with for the last 70 years from education to welfare makes them unmotivated and ignorant.
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Then you must have received every handout there is, yes?
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Man, I must have hit a nerve with that earlier comment. The right-whingers are more incoherent than usual.

I do not see why anyone is surprised to see the ban on earmarks fail as our elected officials find new ways to pad THEIR pockets with favors and pork (money).

If we the people really want change, we must demand…

Our demands must begin with term limits.

And… No, we cannot wait until the next election.

The voting polls must be opened to address these crucial issues now.

No earmark to other countries… all that is doing is bribes for friendship.

No amnesty for illegal immigrants, no education for their children and no anchor babies. Their status will reside with the birth father

No increase of pay and benefits for elected officials without the approval of the American People and repeal their benefits to term in service only.

Only the President of the United States receives benefits for life.

We are losing our wonderful country folks; it is time to take a resolute stand.