The Turtle Sticks His Head Out Of His Shell: Mitch McConnell Shuts Down Bill To Protect Mueller

[jillian]

I'm afraid the fix is in folks. It's no longer a covert Coup-attempt we're witnessing. It's an overt effort at this point. The judge who recently denied Trump's lawyer's motion to view materials seized by Mueller's raid, actually officiated George Soros' wedding. Of all the judges in America, we get a Soros Puppet. When will Americans get pissed off? They are witnessing an attempted Coup d'etat.

see, this is the problem with know-nothings who try to pretend they know things.

a) Judge Woods is one of the best judges in the country. that is fact.
b) she allowed cohen access to the things HE ALREADY KNOWS HE HAD, so he can delay things and make motions pretending they're privileged. Those documents will then be reviewed by the Taint Team in the prosecutors' office for privilege.

but here's a hint: just because someone has an ESQ after his name doesn't mean his every utterance is privileged.

and when you're doing criminal things ... they're NEVER privileged. if you don't believe me, feel free to look at what they did to Gotti's attorney. Bruce Cutler.

 

[jillian]

Well, at this point, I feel that voting for a democrat who is anti rights is like casting a vote AGAINST myself and my rights. So, until the democrat politicians realize that the people have rights and that we are not going to tolerate them messing with them due to the actions of a lunatic who abused HIS rights, then I will never cast a vote for a dem. Too bad because I do agree with them on some other issues, only those issues don't matter to me as much as protecting my rights from the government.

Women , who are half of the Population of America, HAVE TO BE TREATED LIKE SHIT...so says your Orange Hero ...and he has followed through on that grabbing at you all's pussy

I generally find that most of the "women" who are trumptards don't have very much of a connection to women. they're too busy defending sexual predators.

Those women who do that are the weakest and the most pathetic self Haters

did you ever look at their trash mouths when they post?

 

[ChrisL]

10 most outrageous ways government wastes your money

COMMENTARY Why are Americans averse to tax hikes? Besides the obvious reluctance to pay more, there's Senator Tom Coburn's "Waste Book," a compendium of 100 idiotic ways the federal government frittered away our tax dollars in 2011.



Coburn, a Republican from Oklahoma, says the unnecessary, duplicative and low-priority projects in the book, released today, add up to an astounding $6.5 billion. To be sure, getting rid of these projects would barely put a dent in the $1 trillion-plus budget deficit. But it might give taxpayers a bit more faith that our money wasn't being thrown away.

While Congress debated whether they could save money by closing loopholes in the Byzantine tax system, about $1 billion in tax credits for energy efficient home improvements were paid to people who didn't own homes, Coburn says.

Remember Alaska's "Bridge to Nowhere?" It was never built. But the government spent more than $1 million in 2011 paying people to "promote" it. While Congress debated whether to freeze salaries of current workers, some $120 million in retirement and disability benefits were paid to federal employees who were already dead.

The government funds programs to promote video games, chocolate, and to revamp a scuba-diver's web site. Some of these projects might have merit, Coburn says. But they're certainly not national priorities in an age when burgeoning deficits threaten to shutter the federal government.

"During the past 12 months, politicians argued, debated and lamented about how to reign in the federal government's out of control spending. All the while, Washington was on a shopping binge, spending money we do not have on things we do not absolutely need," Coburn said in a prepared statement. "Instead of cutting wasteful spending, nearly $2.5 billion was added each day in 2011 to our national debt, which now exceeds $15 trillion."

There are 100 projects in the book. Here are some that I considered the most outrageous -- but, frankly, its tough to choose. To see the whole listing, check out Coburn's 2011 Waste Book.

$30 million to help Pakistani Mango farmers: This was part of a four-year, $90 million effort to boost hiring and sales among Pakistani businesses funded through the U.S. Agency for International Development.

$765,828 for pancakes: Federal funding went to the Anacostia Economic Development Corp to build an International House of Pancake franchise (and train its workers) in an "underserved community." The underserved community, however, turned out to the a toney area of Washington D.C. - Columbia Heights, which is termed "one of Washington's more desirable neighborhoods."

$120 million in retirement and disability benefits to federal employees who have died: The Inspector General for the U.S. Office of Personnel management found that "the amount of post-death improper payments is consistently $100 million - $150 million annually, totaling over $601 million in the last five years."

$652,740 to create an Oklahoma "visitor's center": The scenic highway that runs from Talihina, Oklahoma to Mena, Ark., already has three visitor's centers, but this federal grant would create a fourth. The abandoned rock house that the government proposes to turn into a new visitor's center will cost more than 14 times the median value of a home in the area. That would be bad enough, but the Talimena Drive area is in good shape, while the rest of eastern Oklahoma's roads could use some serious attention. The area ranks 8th in the nation for its number of "structurally deficient" bridges.

$113,277 for video games: The International Center for the History of Electronic Games got the money to conduct a detailed conservation survey of video games.

$484,000 for pizza: A private developer was giving federal grant money to build Mellow Mushroom Pizza Bakers, an Arlington, Tx., outlet known for its tongue-in-cheek references to drug and hippie culture.

$100,000 for a celebrity chef show in Indonesia: The Washington State Fruit Commission asked for the grant to help promote their fruit and cooking recipes in "an emerging market." Can you spell "Boondoggle?"

$10 million for Pakistani Sesame Street: We must really love the Pakistanis. We must have a close and trusting relationship with the country that somehow managed to miss the fact that Osama bin Laden was living within spitting distance of a Pakistani military base for years. Because, after funding the Pakistani Mango growers, the government felt it needed to spend some time and money remaking big bird and the other Sesame Street characters into a show called "SimSim Humara" for the Pakistani market.

$550,000 for "Rockin' the Kremlin: A documentary on how rock and roll contributed to the end of the cold war.

$702,558 to bring television to Vietnamese villages: No, it wasn't just for the sitcoms. Researchers at Pennsylvania State University wanted to know how television affects family formation and reproductive health. So where better to study the problem than 14 remote Vietnamese villages, where the government paid to bring the t.v.s and gas generators, because, of course, these villages also don't have electric power?

The full listing of 100 outrageous ways the federal government wasted your tax dollars in 2011 can be found here. But Coburn rightly notes in a preamble to his report that the biggest waste of our money may be on Congress itself, which recently recorded a 9% approval rating - the lowest in history. The fact that some member of Congress had to propose (and convince colleagues to approve) these projects gives a glimpse into why.

"The year 2011 will be remembered as a period of unrest as outraged Americans of all political stripes...took to the streets in anger and disgust with the direction of our nation," Coburn writes. "As you look at these examples, regardless of your personal political persuasion, ask yourself: Would you agree with Washington that these projects represent national priorities or would you agree that these reflect the wasteful spending habits that threaten to bankrupt the future of the American Dream?"

More on MoneyWatch

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[OldLady]

We can cut out foreign aid to those countries who are CLEARLY not helpful to us in any way whatsoever. There are a lot of places where the government could cut spending OUR tax dollars instead of continuing with their wasteful spending with the approval of their dumb sheeple constituents.

I agree there are plenty of ways to save $ in the budget, but foreign aid payments are probably not the way to go. We don't do it to get their "agreement." It's to keep countries we DON'T like from moving in as "bff's"

 

[Dschrute3]

I'm afraid the fix is in folks. It's no longer a covert Coup-attempt we're witnessing. It's an overt effort at this point. The judge who recently denied Trump's lawyer's motion to view materials seized by Mueller's raid, actually officiated George Soros' wedding. Of all the judges in America, we get a Soros Puppet. When will Americans get pissed off? They are witnessing an attempted Coup d'etat.

Are you serious? Do you guys ever quit with that shit?
The judge made a fair decision that no one is complaining about at this point. In several weeks, if any of the collected evidence is deemed inadmissable by an independent review, it will not be presented. Period.
Coup d'etat my ass. Who told you that, Hannity?

She officiated Soros' wedding for God's sake. You don't find anything disturbing about that? We know by way of Wikileaks, George Soros owns the US Democratic Party. We also know he's had a hand in overthrowing numerous Governments in Europe. Like i said, this isn't a covert Coup-attempt anymore. They're actually open and out there with their effort. I guess we'll see if the American People stand for it. Stay tuned.

 

[jillian]

US Economy Visualized: Government Tax Revenue & Deficit stacked in $100 bills

US Budget in 1 Hour: $435,841,200

For the year 2011:

- The US Government spends $435,841,200 (~$435 million) per hour (both portions)
- Of the total money shown above, the US Government borrows $187,785,388 (187 million) each hour-- shown on the right portion.

No problem filling up a UPS/Fedex truck each hour, full of cash. The mail-man will never be out of a job processing all those payments..

US Budget in 1 Day: $10,460,188,800
For the year 2011:

- The US Government spends $10,460,188,800 (~$10 billion, 460 million) per day (both portions)
- Of the total money shown above, the US Government borrows $4,506,849,315 (4 billion, 506 million) each day.

US Budget in 1 Week: $73,221,917,808
For the year 2011:

- The US Government spends $73,221,917,808 (~$73 billion, 221 million) per week (both portions)
- Of the total money shown above, the US Government borrows $31,547,945,205 (31 billion, 547 million) each week-- shown on the right portion.

You can say Booyakashaa when this is your weekly allowance.

demonocracy?

lolololololololololololololol

 

[TyroneSlothrop]

Well, at this point, I feel that voting for a democrat who is anti rights is like casting a vote AGAINST myself and my rights. So, until the democrat politicians realize that the people have rights and that we are not going to tolerate them messing with them due to the actions of a lunatic who abused HIS rights, then I will never cast a vote for a dem. Too bad because I do agree with them on some other issues, only those issues don't matter to me as much as protecting my rights from the government.

Women , who are half of the Population of America, HAVE TO BE TREATED LIKE SHIT...so says your Orange Hero ...and he has followed through on that grabbing at you all's pussy

I generally find that most of the "women" who are trumptards don't have very much of a connection to women. they're too busy defending sexual predators.

Those women who do that are the weakest and the most pathetic self Haters

did you ever look at their trash mouths when they post?

Hell I get nasty posts from the USMB Zombie gimp shufflers routinely

 

[ChrisL]

Yes, let's all pay MORE taxes to fund government projects. ROFL. That is SO smart.

 

[TyroneSlothrop]

I'm afraid the fix is in folks. It's no longer a covert Coup-attempt we're witnessing. It's an overt effort at this point. The judge who recently denied Trump's lawyer's motion to view materials seized by Mueller's raid, actually officiated George Soros' wedding. Of all the judges in America, we get a Soros Puppet. When will Americans get pissed off? They are witnessing an attempted Coup d'etat.

Are you serious? Do you guys ever quit with that shit?
The judge made a fair decision that no one is complaining about at this point. In several weeks, if any of the collected evidence is deemed inadmissable by an independent review, it will not be presented. Period.
Coup d'etat my ass. Who told you that, Hannity?

She officiated Soros' wedding for God's sake. You don't find anything disturbing about that? We know by way of Wikileaks, George Soros owns the US Democratic Party. We also know he's had a hand in overthrowing numerous Governments in Europe. Like i said, this isn't a covert Coup-attempt anymore. They're actually open and out there with their effort. I guess we'll see if the American People stand for it. Stay tuned.

 

[jillian]

I'm afraid the fix is in folks. It's no longer a covert Coup-attempt we're witnessing. It's an overt effort at this point. The judge who recently denied Trump's lawyer's motion to view materials seized by Mueller's raid, actually officiated George Soros' wedding. Of all the judges in America, we get a Soros Puppet. When will Americans get pissed off? They are witnessing an attempted Coup d'etat.

Benghazi you silly cry baby

Yup, of all the judges in America, we get a Soros Puppet asshole to decide things. But hey, it's probably all just an innocent coincidence.

no one cares about Soros except for trumptards.

by the by, Judge Wood was appointed by Ronald Reagan.

you people are the stupidest on the planet.

 

[ChrisL]

US Economy Visualized: Government Tax Revenue & Deficit stacked in $100 bills

US Budget in 1 Hour: $435,841,200

For the year 2011:

- The US Government spends $435,841,200 (~$435 million) per hour (both portions)
- Of the total money shown above, the US Government borrows $187,785,388 (187 million) each hour-- shown on the right portion.

No problem filling up a UPS/Fedex truck each hour, full of cash. The mail-man will never be out of a job processing all those payments..

US Budget in 1 Day: $10,460,188,800
For the year 2011:

- The US Government spends $10,460,188,800 (~$10 billion, 460 million) per day (both portions)
- Of the total money shown above, the US Government borrows $4,506,849,315 (4 billion, 506 million) each day.

US Budget in 1 Week: $73,221,917,808
For the year 2011:

- The US Government spends $73,221,917,808 (~$73 billion, 221 million) per week (both portions)
- Of the total money shown above, the US Government borrows $31,547,945,205 (31 billion, 547 million) each week-- shown on the right portion.

You can say Booyakashaa when this is your weekly allowance.

demonocracy?

lolololololololololololololol

The facts stand. Can you refute the facts? Go ahead, fake attorney.

 

[TyroneSlothrop]

Yes, let's all pay MORE taxes to fund government projects. ROFL. That is SO smart.

Lets put into policy Trump's well thought out Ideas like "women you have to treat them Like shit"

 

[jillian]

Well, at this point, I feel that voting for a democrat who is anti rights is like casting a vote AGAINST myself and my rights. So, until the democrat politicians realize that the people have rights and that we are not going to tolerate them messing with them due to the actions of a lunatic who abused HIS rights, then I will never cast a vote for a dem. Too bad because I do agree with them on some other issues, only those issues don't matter to me as much as protecting my rights from the government.

Women , who are half of the Population of America, HAVE TO BE TREATED LIKE SHIT...so says your Orange Hero ...and he has followed through on that grabbing at you all's pussy

I generally find that most of the "women" who are trumptards don't have very much of a connection to women. they're too busy defending sexual predators.

Those women who do that are the weakest and the most pathetic self Haters

did you ever look at their trash mouths when they post?

Hell I get nasty posts from the USMB Zombie gimp shufflers routinely

my sympathies.

 

[ChrisL]

I'm afraid the fix is in folks. It's no longer a covert Coup-attempt we're witnessing. It's an overt effort at this point. The judge who recently denied Trump's lawyer's motion to view materials seized by Mueller's raid, actually officiated George Soros' wedding. Of all the judges in America, we get a Soros Puppet. When will Americans get pissed off? They are witnessing an attempted Coup d'etat.

Benghazi you silly cry baby

Yup, of all the judges in America, we get a Soros Puppet asshole to decide things. But hey, it's probably all just an innocent coincidence.

no one cares about Soros except for trumptards.

by the by, Judge Wood was appointed by Ronald Reagan.

you people are the stupidest on the planet.

ROFL. Wow, that attorney is just coming through! You are so smart.

 

[jillian]

US Economy Visualized: Government Tax Revenue & Deficit stacked in $100 bills

US Budget in 1 Hour: $435,841,200

For the year 2011:

- The US Government spends $435,841,200 (~$435 million) per hour (both portions)
- Of the total money shown above, the US Government borrows $187,785,388 (187 million) each hour-- shown on the right portion.

No problem filling up a UPS/Fedex truck each hour, full of cash. The mail-man will never be out of a job processing all those payments..

US Budget in 1 Day: $10,460,188,800
For the year 2011:

- The US Government spends $10,460,188,800 (~$10 billion, 460 million) per day (both portions)
- Of the total money shown above, the US Government borrows $4,506,849,315 (4 billion, 506 million) each day.

US Budget in 1 Week: $73,221,917,808
For the year 2011:

- The US Government spends $73,221,917,808 (~$73 billion, 221 million) per week (both portions)
- Of the total money shown above, the US Government borrows $31,547,945,205 (31 billion, 547 million) each week-- shown on the right portion.

You can say Booyakashaa when this is your weekly allowance.

demonocracy?

lolololololololololololololol

The facts stand. Can you refute the facts? Go ahead, fake attorney.

we'll let you know the first time you ever post a fact.

carry on.

 

[Dschrute3]

I'm afraid the fix is in folks. It's no longer a covert Coup-attempt we're witnessing. It's an overt effort at this point. The judge who recently denied Trump's lawyer's motion to view materials seized by Mueller's raid, actually officiated George Soros' wedding. Of all the judges in America, we get a Soros Puppet. When will Americans get pissed off? They are witnessing an attempted Coup d'etat.

Benghazi you silly cry baby

Yup, of all the judges in America, we get a Soros Puppet asshole to decide things. But hey, it's probably all just an innocent coincidence.

We do have tissues as well as grief counselors you silly weak sad cuck

All Americans should be angry. They are witnessing an outright attempted Coup d'etat. Even if you do despise Trump, you should still be very disturbed about what's happening. A judge who officiates George Soros' wedding, rules against Trump's lawyer? Wow, very dark times.

 

[sartre play]

Any thing that helps get rid of McConnell, he lines his pockets at our expense.

 

[ChrisL]

7 Unbelievable Ways the Government Wasted Your Money in 2015

A $1 million project involving monkeys on a treadmill, another $1.2 million to assess the effects of microgravity on sheep, $110 million spent on constructing buildings left empty in Afghanistan, $300,000 for a cheese heritage center, $5 billion for unneeded data centers, and on and on.

“Despite the public ballyhooing over budget austerity, the government didn’t come up short on outlandish ways to waste money in 2015,” Flake wrote in his introduction. “Like the monkeys on the treadmill, Washington politicians also ran in place trading familiar arguments in the seemingly never ending match of budget brinksmanship. But the stare down over whether or not to increase spending didn’t last long.”

Related: Everybody Wins Something in the $1.1 Trillion Omnibus Spending Bill

There is an embarrassment of riches to choose from in picking seven good examples of the most wasteful or ridiculous government spending in 2015, thanks to Flake, Lankford and Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense. And that means that any list will be highly subjective -- and woefully incomplete. Still, some projects simply jump off the page and demand attention. Here are our choices:

1. The Star-crossed F-35 -- Heading any list of wasteful government projects and boondoggles is the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Years behind schedule and plagued with cost overruns and technical glitches, the effort has cost around $400 billion to date, making it the most expensive weapons effort in U.S. history. The program is expected to cost more than $1 trillion over its lifetime. But in the sprawling $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill approved by Congress last week, lawmakers boosted the Obama administration’s original $11 billion request to buy 57 planes by another $1.3 billion. The cash infusion means the Pentagon will be able to buy an additional 11 fighters, with all three military services slated to get more F-35s.
   
   
2. Runaway Farm Subsidies – Two new agriculture income entitlement programs created as part of the 2014 farm bill to protect farmers from adverse shifts in prices seemed like a good idea at the time, given the relative stability of the commodities markets. But a senior Department of Agriculture official confirmed to Congress in September that the new programs – Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage -- were proving to be far more costly than promised. Given a significant drop in commodity prices since passage of the legislation, USDA currently projects that the government will be on the hook for about $6.5 billion in 2014 crop payments, largely to corn producers. That would be almost $3 billion more than the original projection – or 73 percent higher.
   
   
3. Jazz Playing Robots -- The Department of Defense complained until recently that it needed more operating funds, yet it managed to come up with $2 million to hire a team of musicians and researchers to develop robotic music computers to perform a trumpet solo and jam with human musicians. You heard that right. Jazz musician and academic Kelland Thomas is heading up a team of researchers at the University of Arizona, the University of Urbana-Champagne and Oberlin College. Thomas says his goal is to build a computer system that can be hooked up to robots that can play instruments, and that can play with humans “in ways we recognize as improvisational and adaptive.”

Related: Why Is Congress Giving Away $500 Billion in Unfunded Tax Cuts?

1. Another Big Sop to Ethanol -- Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack created a $100 million program utilizing Commodity Credit Corporation funds to support the installation of ethanol blender pumps at gas stations that can handle high-blend ethanol fuels. Taxpayers already pay plenty to support the ethanol industry through a variety of subsidies and federal mandates requiring the use of biofuels. Vilsack, the former governor of Iowa – a major corn producing state -- pushed his plan through in the face of opposition from Congress, which previously prohibited the Department of Agriculture from spending money for blender pumps.
   
   
2. Exploring the Wonders of a Koozie -- Two students from the University of Washington were given a $1.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation to investigate how a foam koozie keeps a can of cold beer cool on a hot day – findings that were published in Physics Today. University of Washington professor Dale Durran was quoted as saying, “Probably the most important thing a beer koozie does is not simply insulate the can but keep condensation from forming on the outside of it.” Hmm. That scientific insight cost taxpayers more than $1 million.
   
   
3. DOE’s Uranium Enrichment Flop -- A little known but costly Department of Energy project was closed down this year, but not before expending at least $280 million between 2012 and 2014 trying to develop a new commercial technology to enrich uranium fuel for use in nuclear power plants. From the beginning, the American Centrifuge Project was predicated on securing billions of dollars in government subsidies. But the project, based in Piketon, Ohio, was plagued by technological trouble and the federal government finally had to pull the plug in September. However, DOE is continuing to fund an offshoot of the research project that is run by Centrus Energy Corp., in Oakridge, Tenn. Centrus announced last week that Congress had authorized a total of $100 million in continued funding for its operations “to maintain and advance American leadership in uranium enrichment technology.”

Obama Abandons $500 Million Program to Train Syrian Rebels

1. World’s Most Expensive Training Program – President Obama’s plan to arm and train thousands of “moderate” Syrian rebels to help in an allied campaign to crush ISIS turned out to be an embarrassing failure and had to be disbanded. The original proposal was to supplement U.S. air strikes with roughly 3,000 opposition fighters on the ground who could help the allied forces defeat ISIS. But by the time the Pentagon decided to abandon the program in October, the government had vetted, trained and equipped only 145 fighters, including just 95 who had returned to Syria to fight. That worked out to cost of roughly $2 million per trainee. The Pentagon insists the cost per trainee was much lower when you discount the cost of weapons and ammunition still in storage.

 

[Dschrute3]

I'm afraid the fix is in folks. It's no longer a covert Coup-attempt we're witnessing. It's an overt effort at this point. The judge who recently denied Trump's lawyer's motion to view materials seized by Mueller's raid, actually officiated George Soros' wedding. Of all the judges in America, we get a Soros Puppet. When will Americans get pissed off? They are witnessing an attempted Coup d'etat.

see, this is the problem with know-nothings who try to pretend they know things.

a) Judge Woods is one of the best judges in the country. that is fact.
b) she allowed cohen access to the things HE ALREADY KNOWS HE HAD, so he can delay things and make motions pretending they're privileged. Those documents will then be reviewed by the Taint Team in the prosecutors' office for privilege.

but here's a hint: just because someone has an ESQ after his name doesn't mean his every utterance is privileged.

and when you're doing criminal things ... they're NEVER privileged. if you don't believe me, feel free to look at what they did to Gotti's attorney. Bruce Cutler.

She's a Soros Puppet cretin. How could she have been allowed to rule on it? Answer is, the fix is in.

 

[TyroneSlothrop]

I'm afraid the fix is in folks. It's no longer a covert Coup-attempt we're witnessing. It's an overt effort at this point. The judge who recently denied Trump's lawyer's motion to view materials seized by Mueller's raid, actually officiated George Soros' wedding. Of all the judges in America, we get a Soros Puppet. When will Americans get pissed off? They are witnessing an attempted Coup d'etat.

Benghazi you silly cry baby

Yup, of all the judges in America, we get a Soros Puppet asshole to decide things. But hey, it's probably all just an innocent coincidence.

We do have tissues as well as grief counselors you silly weak sad cuck

All Americans should be angry. They are witnessing an outright attempted Coup d'etat. Even if you do despise Trump, you should still be very disturbed about what's happening. A judge who officiates George Soros' wedding, rules against Trump's lawyer? Wow, very dark times.

I feel so bad for you White Supremacist Nazi Bastard