EARMARKS

AmpersanArchist.com ^ | 2012-05-19 | AmpersanArchist1

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EARMARKS
$129,859,196,359

This is a short outline describing only one method, only one very small portion of the vast Federal Budget, that elected officials use, with impunity, to TRANSFER WEALTH from hard working citizens, like you, to UNDESERVING PATRONAGE GROUPS. Or, to put it in other terms, they STEAL your money and BUY LOYALTY and VOTES so they can stay in office and power. Or to put it yet another way, THEY APPROPRIATE THE MONEY YOU WORKED YOUR ASS OFF TO EARN AND RE-DISTRIBUTE IT IN A MORE “FAIR” WAY. Don’t forget they are SMARTER than you and know how better to spend your money in a more FAIR way.

EARMARK:

- A provision in Congressional legislation that allocates a specified amount of money for a specific project, program, or organization (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/earmarks)

- A provision in a piece of Congressional legislation that directs specified federal funds to specific projects, programs, organizations, or individuals: Lawmakers requested almost 40,000 earmarks worth more than $100 billion directed to their home districts and states. Compare pork barrel. verb (used with object) (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/earmarks?s=t)

- “Allocations of revenue in a bill that are directed to a specific project or recipient typically in a legislator’s home state or district.” (http://www.factcheck.org/2008/01/defining-an-earmark/r)

PORK BARREL:

- noun Informal. a government appropriation, bill, or policy that supplies funds for local improvements designed to ingratiate legislators with their constituents. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pork+barrel)

55,272

NUMBER OF INDIVIDUAL EARMARKS IN THE 2010 FEDERAL BUDGET
2010-appropriations-earmark-extract – (http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb)

$129,859,196,359

Total amount of 2011 Requested Earmarks
http://endingspending.com/fixing-the-budget/earmarks/map-2011/

Requests by Party:
Democrat: $105,386,580,601
Republican: $23,552,305,963
Independent: $920,309,794

REMEMBER: Every dollar spent by any government agency, is taken by force and the threat of jail and/or the forfeiture your freedom. It is a transfer of wealth from you to someone else with little to no representation.

OUTRAGEOUS EXAMPLES

$192 Million for Rum

Another byproduct of the 2008 bailout, this earmark was added to the legislation in the Senate. It renewed an expired rebate against excise taxes charged on rum imported from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands through 2009. The tax cuts went to the two territories, and lobbyists from manufacturers Bacardi and Captain Morgan complained that their companies didn’t see any of the savings.

$5.2 Million for Neon

The Las Vegas Neon Boneyard began as a non-profit organization in 1990, and was founded by artists, community leaders, and the Young Electric Sign Co. It’s been the recipient of federal funds totaling over $5 million in the past decade, including $1.8 million in 2010, earmarked from the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act (a division of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management).

$3.4 Million for Turtles

Stimulus funds included over $3 million for a project to construct a “turtle crossing” – a tunnel under Highway 27 in Florida so that wildlife can safely cross the road. This earmark was called out by Senator Tom Coburn’s list of the top 100 wasteful spending items in the stimulus package, but Josh Boan, the Florida Transportation Department’s natural resources manager, defends the project; he says a large number of turtles and other wildlife are killed in the area. Tthe turtles cross the road in search of water, and over 2,000 turtles per mile get squashed on the stretch of roadway every year. In addition, the “eco-passage,” endorsed by Florida’s Department of Transportation, improves highway safety, since turtles hit by moving vehicles can become dangerous projectiles.

$2 Million for Urinals

In 2006, Rep. Vernon Ehlers, a Michigan Republican, requested $2 million from the Defense appropriations bill for a Navy study exploring the use of “no flush” urinals on board ships and at military installations. An environmental technology firm that produces the waterfree urinals is located in Grand Rapids, in Ehlers’ district, but the congressman said he did not specify that particular company in his request or ask that the money be used to purchase any of the company’s products.

$500,000 for Teapots

In 2006, North Carolina state representative Jim Harrell III, a Democrat, appropriated $400,00 from the state budget for the construction of a teapot museum in the town of Sparta, which then received another $500,000 in federal funds through the Housing and Urban Development budget allocation. While the amount of money requested was negligible in context, the request was widely mocked because of its subject, and eventually won the dubious “Tempest in a Teapot” award. Senator Richard Burr and Rep. Virginia Foxx supported the federal appropriation for their home state. Unfortunately, the museum failed to raise enough private funds to cover operations and closed in 2010, having received neither state nor federal money.

$250,000 for Windowsills

Rep. Jim McDermott, a Democrat from Seattle, requested the quarter-million for window repair and limestone sill replacement at The Rainier Club. This private club is located in a historic building in Seattle, with 1200 members who pay nearly $200 per month in membership fees. While the money requested is a drop in the bucket in terms of federal funding, the request is unusual; although the 102-year-old building is a designated Seattle city landmark and listed as a historic building by the state, it is not a national historic landmark and therefore doesn’t qualify for funding through existing state historic-preservation grant programs.
http://nakedlaw.avvo.com/2011/03/outrageous-earmarks-youve-never-heard-about/

Earmarks are one outrageous way your political representatives successfully BUY the votes of their constituents. The total outlay for earmarks is less than 2% of the total Federal Budget.

Remember: This is your money that you are allowing to be stolen and given to less deserving individuals and groups. Why?

WHY????