Posted on 10/15/2009 4:29:21 AM PDT by Kaslin
Senators diverted $2.6 billion in funds in a defense spending bill to pet projects largely at the expense of accounts that pay for fuel, ammunition and training for U.S. troops, including those fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to an analysis.
Among the 778 such projects, known as earmarks, packed into the bill: $25 million for a new World War II museum at the University of New Orleans and $20 million to launch an educational institute named after the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat.
While earmarks are hardly new in Washington, "in 30 years on Capitol Hill, I never saw Congress mangle the defense budget as badly as this year," said Winslow Wheeler, a former Senate staffer who worked on defense funding and oversight for both Republicans and Democrats. He is now a senior fellow at the Center for Defense Information, an independent research organization.
Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican, called the transfer of funds from Pentagon operations and maintenance "a disgrace."
"The Senate is putting favorable headlines back home above our men and women fighting on the front lines," he said in a statement.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Give us the list; it is time that the House of Lords is called to account.
My son is a Marine who could deploy at any time. He has not shot his rifle since March! We don’t understand how that can be, but now I see.
..be interesting to watch a politician in a room with a few thousand dollars on a table. He’d swear the table looked wobbly and insisted he only took the money to ease the stress on the table legs.
IT’S ABOUT TIME THE PEOPLE START DEMANDING ACCOUNTING OF ALL PORKULUS MONEY SPEND SO FAR......
There are no words left that can describe the corruption in this government.
BUMP
I saw somewhere that 1 million was taken from homeland security and found it’s way to acorn. Can’t name the source, but I do remember reading it on a credible source.
That’s why you want a gummbermint running your health care!
IIRC, that had to do with firefighting somehow. I remember the story, too.
http://cofcc.org/2009/10/obama-administration-gave-acorn-1-million-for-fire-safety/
But, here’s this:
“FEMA Suspends ACORN Grant - Issa, Collins Call for Immediate Review of DHS Grants to ACORN”
Wednesday, 07 October 2009
That would not surprise me one bit. The rats can ot wait until there is another terrorist attack
So, if a Marine/soldier can’t get at ammo because of ‘diverted funds,’ is it logical to infer that people under 0bamacare can’t get at ___________ because of ‘funding issues’? Not quite logical, but possible, if we assume that where government programs are concerned, past is prologue.
Jut to make sure. I hope you are being sarcastic.
No live fire since March and he is about to go into battle?
This lack of training ammo was a hallmark of the Clinton regime, too, the cuts in the defense budget that produced Clinton’s vaunted budget surplus, meant that Army tank gunners fired maybe one live round a year and equipment was literally failing for lack of spare parts. Except for Somalia, we were not sending men into battle at risk of their lives.
God Bless and protect your son
Nothing except an armed revolution, and the Iraq / Afghanistan veterans will spearhead the revolution.
Name and Shame!
This article makes me want to puke!!
The sociopaths in Congress just sink lower and lower everyday and it does not seem possible but they still manage to do it.
If millions of us did not file our taxes there is not a damn thing they could do about it, they could not afford to do anything about it. Cut off their life blood, our money!! Time to hold them hostage!!!
“Mr. Inouye had a total of 35 earmarks worth more than $206 million in the final bill, and the ranking Republican on the committee, Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi, sponsored 48 worth $216 million.”
Sheesh! I’m glad it’s not an old-boys network in play down there in DC.
This is getting completely ridiculous and out of hand. Time to clear the whole nest of vipers, IMO.
From what I have read it was Landreau and Vitter in NO, and Inouye and Kerry for the Kennedy memorial.
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