Republicrat Nonsense

Articles

Michael John McCrae

Republicrat Nonsense
Dec 10, 2003

I must never read the newspaper. "Senator says Bush partly to blame", reads the subtext of the article. "Comgress is throwing away astonishing amounts, spending money like a drunken sailor, and President Bush shares the blame because he is not using his veto power, Sen. John McCain said yesterday", reads the first paragraph. ARGH!

McCain's chief complaint seems to be that President Bush hasn't vetoed a bill yet while in office. the President said he wanted to enforce spending limits yet hasn't vetoed anything in an effort at limitation. Hummmm. Let's see.

First, a spending bill is proposed; say and education bill like "No Child Left Behind". Then to obtain enough support for passage, congressmen and senators are lobbied by the sponsors of the bill for their support. Each Senator and congressman says: "I'll vote yes, if I am permitted an amendment to reflect the needs of my constituency." Now, the amendment in question might not have anything to do with education. It may be an amendment to add a few million dollars for the expansion of a firehouse, or a public library; or a repair to a historical landmark or some such. Anyway, after all the lobbying and amending, the education bill, originally well within the 4 percent spending cap, is now anywhere from 10 to 20 percent above the cap. But that's OK, because everyone now has a stake in the passage of this "education bill", also now known as the "Kennedy Political Pork Proliferation Package".

Now the other end of this is the President still not having been given the power of the "Line Item Veto", without which there can be no "pork" control. Either the entire bill is vetoed or the entire bill, with all its added pork is signed. When McCain says Bush bears some of the responsibility it is only because he knows it was forced upon him by the irresponsible spenders in the Congress. If McCain were really concerned he would push very hard to get President Bush the line item veto power he needs to kill pork barrel spending. Only when the President failed to eliminate true pork in true bills would McCain then have his argument.

But it is so much easier to blame the President for failing to control the "business as usual" Congress. Congress is an evil entity. Both parties are taking full advantage of every opportunity to spend money they don't have, cry "deficit" and then bemoan the fact they need to raise taxes to make up the shortfalls they created. McCain says the numbers are "astonishing". Well, get in there and start naming names guy. Tell us who these "porkers" are so we can vote their butts out. Don't blame the President. If there is blame to be had at all, it must squarely reside in the laps of the men who vote to include all this pork in ligitimate spending packages. No. I see it is much easier to blame the President. I've always believed every bill should be a stand alone bill. No amendments, no pork; voted up or down solely on its own merit; not whether some Senator had a particular stake in the passage. A Senator stands before his peers, delivers a synopsis of his bill and asks for a vote. The bill is then voted on its merit. Does it just benefit one voting district in one county? Does it benefit a whole state? Will the benefit extend to the whole country? Or is the sole purpose of the bill, putting up one more building in West Virginia with the name "Byrd" attached to it? A "Line Item Veto" might help poor Sen. McCain sleep better at night.

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About the Author: Independent, Conservative, Christian. Married 29 years with 5 children raised and one grandson being raised. 30 year Army Veteran and published poet with www.poetry.com since Y2K. Email Michael John McCrae: michael.mccrae@us.army.mil

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