VOA News – President Bush Calls for End To Last-Minute Spending Measures in Congress — Yea, just as the Democrats get control of the spending he decides earmarks are a bad thing. You watch how nothing comes of this scam.
President Bush has called on Congress to implement reforms that would eliminate last-minute spending measures being added to bills.
In his weekly radio address, Mr. Bush said Congress can impose more discipline on federal spending by eliminating such measures, known as earmarks. He said earmarks are usually added at the last minute, so they never get debated or discussed. He said the number of such measures has exploded in the past 10 years, from 3,000 in 1996 to 13,000 in 2006.
Funny how how he’s calling for it now that the dems are in. On the other hand, better late than never.
This is sort of like locking the barn doors after the horses have gotten out.
Hey! Bush is the Uniter!
At this point I would just be happy if there was some requirement for these clowns to actually read the bills, in their entirety, before they vote on them.
I don’t think it is a matter of pissing off the democrats rather it is about having an excuse for when there are no spending cuts.
Before with a republican majority, cutting spending would have been easy but no congressman wants to cut off his money flow. So instead of congress looking bad in the eyes of the public because they do not want to cut spending, it is best to wait for a good excuse not to cut spending. Party politics plays well for an excuse.
All that Bush has to do now is say “The democrats won’t cooperate in the spending cuts” People will believe him because democrats are known for spending.
The public gets frustrated with higher taxes. Republicans and democrats can spend like crazy. Everyone is happy.
The public is easy to manipulate.
Bush has become a fiscal Conservative. Always knew he had it in him.
“..said Congress can impose more discipline on federal spending ..”
Yeah right. What does this mf’ing puke of a president know about discipline on federal spendig? This GOP A-hole and his gang of thieves and liars has bankrupted the US treasury.
The GOP did the same thing with the line-item veto for the President. Push for it when they’re in power, then pull it when the Dems get in.
Think they will cut off the funds for Iraq? They could save hundreds of billions of dollars that way.
Two more years of this bitterness and the left will lose power.
Really, you guys won. No reason to be pissy.
A lot of federal funding is drying up for the states. In my state they’ve announced that funding will be scarce this year because the state is having to fully support mandated traditional federally subsidized items. I hate to see Congress cut defense funding to force a Iraqi withdrawal, but someone needs to send these blind morons a message. We can’t fix Iraq’s problems, just die along with them.
Democrats are going to spend like crazy. They always do. Republicans got voted out in a large part because they were spending like crazy. It’s not going to stop, especially with people like Robert Byrd (D-KKK), Jack Murtha, and Ted Kennedy in charge. On the other side we have Ted “tubes” Stevens trying his hardest to spend every dime he can. It would be great to end earmarks but its like term limits, people are all for it until they get elected and find out they like it in Washington DC, and then have no desire to leave. Everyone wants to get rid of the other guy’s pork but never their own, and the constituents are the same way: it’s bad when your Congressman does it, but it is OK when mine does, we really needed that $50 million project here.
Good ol’ “Tubes” brings in a lot of money for Alaska, as he should. Besides, no one has proven that the “tubes” argument doesn’t hold true for the people who vote for him… or those who fund him.
#9, what in the hell are you talking about? The Republicans passed the line-item veto while Clinton was in office. It was the Supreme Court who rightly found it to be unconstitutional.
#9…Alix, the Republicans passed the line item. I believe the courts knocked it down.
Bush has proposed this before. But his own party scuttled it(along with a big bunch of Dem. votes). Pelosi said last week along with Reid, that stopping **earmarks** was a priority and going to be one of the first things they did. It’s going to take the Republican reformers, and the Democrat reformers, plus Reid and Pelosi and the President to get it passed.
Shame on Bush for Calling for this now.
Shame on the Democrats for not calling for this when Bush and Co. were in power.
Shame on all of us for electing these jerks.
If Bush really cared about pork spending, perhaps he should have vetoed a few spending bill during the past 6 years. But since Bush is little more than a holy-rolling liberal who doesn’t like taxes, he’s lost any chance to be taken seriously on this issue.
I’m a conservative and I am pissed this didn’t happen 6 years ago
the republicans didn’t just loose this election they were fired by the conservatives like me for not doing what they were hired for in the first place
I am rapidly becoming disillusioned with our leader also, he seems to have lost his conservative way and his testes for a fight
#19, Bush was a conservative?
I think Karl Rove put it best in describing compassionate conservativism: liberal ends through conservative means. Of course a true “conservative” would not be interested in reaching most of those ends in the first place.
You are just now becoming disillusioned? Cripes!
Check out Bush’s mistakes and wrongdoing here:
http://home.comcast.net/~plutarch/malfy-b.html#bush3
Like many, I don’t think Congress should be paying for people to use splinters from pork barrels to tattoo their ears either.
16,
You are correct, the GOP passed it, and they spearheaded the court case that killed it once out of power.
#24….actually, thats not true either Alix…. 🙂
It was passed, signed by Clinton, then immediatly challenged by 6 Senators. Byrd, Moniyan, Levin and Hatfield, and 2 others. They lost.
But in 1998 it was challenged again, this time by 4 Senators and a New York hospital and hospital union and a farmers union. This time it was found to be unconstitutional. The Supremes then upheld that ruling….6-3…….in 1998.
From what I understand, there is a proposed Consitutional Amendment langushing that would restore it.
I support the Democrats. I will, however, take a wait and see attitude on how well they can resist the port barrel spending. While they could do as poorly as the Republicans, I’m hoping they rise to the challenge.
If Bush is so against earmarks, he should veto the who darn package Congress just passed before the door hit them in their collective butts.
If he signs it, then he’s just blowing hot air about fiscal responsibility.
What an Idiot.