DeMint: We'll Ban Earmarks Right Away

[Thinkformyself]

Really? Really Jim? You are going to ban earmarks? That is absolutely amazing. An amazing feat that is following an amazing claim. What are you going to do with federal dollars tax dollars then? Spend it all on things in Washington? Not send any back to congressional districts? How does one actually ban earmarks?

An absolutely amazing claim by the senator. I would certainly welcome anyone telling me how he plans on doing this, and under what authority he thinks he can do this. By the way, it is the job of elected officials to bring tax dollars back to their districts as tax dollars that I pay are not wholly intended to do nothing at all, in my wise and entirely correct opinion.

More absolute pie in the sky nonsensical claims from the senator that have zero hope of ever becoming reality.

DeMint: We'll Ban Earmarks Right Away - The Early Show - CBS News

Edited, copyright infringements will not be tolerated

PixieStix

 

[Modbert]

 

[kwc57]

Pay down the debt perhaps? Are you allowed to operate by the same rules as the government? No. Shouldn't they have to operate by the same rules as everyone else? Yes.

 

[Thinkformyself]

Pay down the debt perhaps? Are you allowed to operate by the same rules as the government? No. Shouldn't they have to operate by the same rules as everyone else? Yes.

Sure they should. So shouldn't Dmeint pledge to balance the budget if that is the case?

But let's face reality, shall we? This is nothing more than a little ploy by DeMint, a rhetorical jingle that gets the base worked up and makes folks think he is actually doing something, in my opinion.

Obviously it has no chance of becoming reality. Earmarks are part of life. Would you send the guy to Washington who will not bring some tax dollars home? Of course not. DeMint wins no matter what. When he fails he can always claim that it was the fault of business as usual in Washington and his supporters send him back, and his constituents still get plenty of money brought back because the other senator from his state still requests earmarks.

.: United States Senator Lindsey Graham, South Carolina :: Issue Statements :.

 

[California Girl]

Instead of smirking and eating popcorn, shouldn't you be fixing the OP - it breaches copyright.

 

[Sallow]

Kewl..

No new infrastructure.

That will help businesses..yessiree Bob..you betcha!

Can hardly wait till the next bridge collapse.

I-35 Bridge Collapse - Video

 

[Revere]

What infrastructure does business with no customers need?

DeMint's only shortcoming is that there are not 50 other Republican Senators like him.

 

[Navy1960]

The vote has to do with C-17 cargo planes - 2.5 billion dollars worth of them. Congress added this spending for C-17 planes even though the White House did not request it. The Pentagon says that it does not need the C-17 planes, and it doesn't want Congress to buy them.

It should have been an easy call for any member of the Senate to vote for S. AMDT. 2558. If the military says that it doesn't need and doesn't want expensive cargo airplanes, then Congress shouldn't buy them, right? Unfortunately, many senators don't see things that way. The way they see it, corporate military contractors stand to lose a lot of money if these unnecessary airplanes are not built. So, in order to serve the needs of these companies, many senators decided to vote to keep the C-17 gravy train running, using public money to enrich shareholders of private corporations.
Which Senators Voted To Prolong C-17 Military Waste?

Republicans Who Voted To Continue Wasteful C-17 Spending

Senator Robert F. Bennett (R-UT)
Senator Kit Bond (R-MO)
Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS)
Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY)
Senator Richard Burr (R-NC)
Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS)
Senator Susan Collins (R-ME)
Senator John Cornyn (R-TX)
Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID)
Senator James DeMint (R-SC)

Democrats Who Voted To Continue Wasteful C-17 Spending

Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI)
Senator Max Baucus (D-MT)
Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN)
Senator Mark Begich (D-AK)
Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
Senator Roland Burris (D-IL)
Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
Senator Robert P. Casey (D-PA)
Senator Christopher J. Dodd (D-CT)
Senator Richard J. Durbin (D-IL)
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)


While not so much a comment on the editors of the article , I sure hope Sen. DeMint and many others no matter what the party are good for their word. As many of them seem to have a long history of spending money then turning around and telling the citizens something else. The USAF has for years told congress they no longer need or want anymore C-17's and yet, congress keeps buying them. This is a very small example of pork just in Defense which I am sure can be found in just about every single branch of Govt.

 

[WillowTree]

Instead of smirking and eating popcorn, shouldn't you be fixing the OP - it breaches copyright.

Zing!

 

[WillowTree]

Ya know I heard on the TV last night that Speaker of the House John Boehner has never once put an earmark in a bill. I think this is also true of Senator John McCain.

 

[Thinkformyself]

Instead of smirking and eating popcorn, shouldn't you be fixing the OP - it breaches copyright.

Zing!

I thank you folks very much for avoiding the actual topic of the thread and instead focusing on a forum rule violation. Rest assured I have taken it to heart.

Actually, I did PM a mod for clarification of said rule as I am a mere babe in the woods here. So until I have a bit more info on the rule I have edited the OP so as to not include the entire article.

Again, a hearty thanks for that.

 

[Ravi]

Instead of smirking and eating popcorn, shouldn't you be fixing the OP - it breaches copyright.

Zing!

I thank you folks very much for avoiding the actual topic of the thread and instead focusing on a forum rule violation. Rest assured I have taken it to heart.

Actually, I did PM a mod for clarification of said rule as I am a mere babe in the woods here. So until I have a bit more info on the rule I have edited the OP so as to not include the entire article.

Again, a hearty thanks for that.

Don't worry about it too much. Even the old timers like California Girl often break rules. She did right in this thread.

DeMint.

 

[WillowTree]

Instead of smirking and eating popcorn, shouldn't you be fixing the OP - it breaches copyright.

Zing!

I thank you folks very much for avoiding the actual topic of the thread and instead focusing on a forum rule violation. Rest assured I have taken it to heart.

Actually, I did PM a mod for clarification of said rule as I am a mere babe in the woods here. So until I have a bit more info on the rule I have edited the OP so as to not include the entire article.

Again, a hearty thanks for that.

Way up top is a section called rules and guidelines. I found this information.

Copyright Guidelines:
Copyright infringement is illegal. USmessageboard.com will enforce the law. Never post an article in its entirety. When posting copyrighted material, please use small sections or link to the article. When posting copyrighted material you MUST give credit to the author in your post. You are responsible for including links/credit, regardless of how you originally came across the material.

 

[kwc57]

Pay down the debt perhaps? Are you allowed to operate by the same rules as the government? No. Shouldn't they have to operate by the same rules as everyone else? Yes.

Sure they should. So shouldn't Dmeint pledge to balance the budget if that is the case?

But let's face reality, shall we? This is nothing more than a little ploy by DeMint, a rhetorical jingle that gets the base worked up and makes folks think he is actually doing something, in my opinion.

Obviously it has no chance of becoming reality. Earmarks are part of life. Would you send the guy to Washington who will not bring some tax dollars home? Of course not. DeMint wins no matter what. When he fails he can always claim that it was the fault of business as usual in Washington and his supporters send him back, and his constituents still get plenty of money brought back because the other senator from his state still requests earmarks.

.: United States Senator Lindsey Graham, South Carolina :: Issue Statements :.

Actually, I voted to reelect just such a guy this past Tuesday.

The Senator Fighting Pork - TIME


A soft-spoken, polite man who has long worked as obstetrician, Tom Coburn has angered senators from the right and the left in his decade-long battle to cut what he considers pork-barrel spending from the federal budget. Coburn has diagnosed such spending, known as earmarks, as "the gateway drug to spending addiction" and he's determined to cure Congress of this malady. As the Senate has worked to pass a key appropriations bill over the last two weeks, Coburn has attached 19 amendments to the bill, all targeting spending provisions he thinks are pork. Most famous for his attacks last year on the so-called "Bridge to Nowhere" — which would have spent more than $200 million to connect two virtually uninhabited areas in Alaska — Coburn now has his eye on a bunch of projects inserted in this bill by two of the most experienced and powerful men on Capitol Hill, Mississippi Republican Senators Thad Cochran and Trent Lott......

......The mild-mannered Cochran seemed a bit frustrated with Coburn's tactics last week, and that's not unusual. Coburn's habit of going down to the Senate floor and ridiculing projects his colleagues want funding for is "annoying" to some of them, says Mel Martinez, a Republican from Florida. Alaska's Ted Stevens threatened to resign from the Senate if it supported Coburn's drive to cut the "Bridge to Nowhere" from last year's budget, and Coburn won only 15 votes for the provision. But while his victories are rare and the ire from his colleagues high, Coburn says he doesn't mind. "I don't care about the next election. I don't care about getting reelected," he says. "We have to change the process."

Dana Milbank - Coburn Dines Alone as the Senate Buffet Piles on the Pork - washingtonpost.com

George F. Will - The Senate's Dr. No - washingtonpost.com

Senate Committee Passes Landmark Earmark Transparency Legislation - Press Releases - Tom Coburn, M.D., United States Senator from Oklahoma

 

[saveliberty]

Obama was against earmarks too. Should be a slam dunk, unless the Dems want to look like crap right after an election.

 

[judyd]

Ya know I heard on the TV last night that Speaker of the House John Boehner has never once put an earmark in a bill. I think this is also true of Senator John McCain.

McCain is a hard critic of earmark use by others, but he also earmarked a deal for the benefit of one of his large contributors (Sun-Cor).

I don't really have a problem with earmarks for a representative's home state, but this deal didn't benefit Arizona at all. Most candidates campaign with the promise that they will work to get federal funding for certain state projects which are important to their constituents.

 

[Thinkformyself]

That is all great and wonderful.

Not that being said, anyone have any idea on how one would ban appropriations? Who would get to decide what money goes where?

No, I am not buying DeMint's rhetoric. He may not ask for anything. That does not mean the people he he represents are not getting something.

 

[sangha]

Pay down the debt perhaps? Are you allowed to operate by the same rules as the government? No. Shouldn't they have to operate by the same rules as everyone else? Yes.

Sure they should. So shouldn't Dmeint pledge to balance the budget if that is the case?

But let's face reality, shall we? This is nothing more than a little ploy by DeMint, a rhetorical jingle that gets the base worked up and makes folks think he is actually doing something, in my opinion.

Obviously it has no chance of becoming reality. Earmarks are part of life. Would you send the guy to Washington who will not bring some tax dollars home? Of course not. DeMint wins no matter what. When he fails he can always claim that it was the fault of business as usual in Washington and his supporters send him back, and his constituents still get plenty of money brought back because the other senator from his state still requests earmarks.

.: United States Senator Lindsey Graham, South Carolina :: Issue Statements :.

Actually, I voted to reelect just such a guy this past Tuesday.

The Senator Fighting Pork - TIME


A soft-spoken, polite man who has long worked as obstetrician, Tom Coburn has angered senators from the right and the left in his decade-long battle to cut what he considers pork-barrel spending from the federal budget. Coburn has diagnosed such spending, known as earmarks, as "the gateway drug to spending addiction" and he's determined to cure Congress of this malady. As the Senate has worked to pass a key appropriations bill over the last two weeks, Coburn has attached 19 amendments to the bill, all targeting spending provisions he thinks are pork. Most famous for his attacks last year on the so-called "Bridge to Nowhere" — which would have spent more than $200 million to connect two virtually uninhabited areas in Alaska — Coburn now has his eye on a bunch of projects inserted in this bill by two of the most experienced and powerful men on Capitol Hill, Mississippi Republican Senators Thad Cochran and Trent Lott......

......The mild-mannered Cochran seemed a bit frustrated with Coburn's tactics last week, and that's not unusual. Coburn's habit of going down to the Senate floor and ridiculing projects his colleagues want funding for is "annoying" to some of them, says Mel Martinez, a Republican from Florida. Alaska's Ted Stevens threatened to resign from the Senate if it supported Coburn's drive to cut the "Bridge to Nowhere" from last year's budget, and Coburn won only 15 votes for the provision. But while his victories are rare and the ire from his colleagues high, Coburn says he doesn't mind. "I don't care about the next election. I don't care about getting reelected," he says. "We have to change the process."

Dana Milbank - Coburn Dines Alone as the Senate Buffet Piles on the Pork - washingtonpost.com

George F. Will - The Senate's Dr. No - washingtonpost.com

Senate Committee Passes Landmark Earmark Transparency Legislation - Press Releases - Tom Coburn, M.D., United States Senator from Oklahoma

Coburns' a pork loving welfare queen who voted for earmark laden bills like the Farm Bill, and Amtrak subsidies. He's also a coward who ducks out of budget votes.

 

[Navy1960]

That is all great and wonderful.

Not that being said, anyone have any idea on how one would ban appropriations? Who would get to decide what money goes where?

No, I am not buying DeMint's rhetoric. He may not ask for anything. That does not mean the people he he represents are not getting something.

Here's an idea how about create a budget, approve it and once approved, live within the budget. I'm sure if a lot of these depts. in Govt. had to live on the monies given to them in a budget and not on having to repeatedly ask congress for supplementals, or porking up bills with spending done outside the budget then we may see some movement in the right direction.

 

[manu1959]

i am confused....earmarks are esentially paying someone for their vote....

if you vote to fund the war, fund national healthcare....whatever...

then "insertname of special project here" will get funded as part of this bill....

how are earmarks legal...how are they anything other than graft...