Troop Funding Diverted to Pet Projects
Study finds $2.6 billion taken from guns and ammunition
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.
Your tax dollars at work.
Hat tip: Washington Times
[1]
Disgrace is too mild a word. Can we sue these people for malfeasance or something?
I am stunned. I would think that after the summer of fire from the tea parties, these folks in washington would be walking on egg shells. Obviously they aren’t listening to us at all.
Fire them. NOW.
[2]
mal·fea·sance (māl-fē’zəns)
n. Misconduct or wrongdoing, especially by a public official.
[Anglo-Norman malfaisance, from Old French malfaisant, malfeasant, present participle of malfaire, to do evil, from Latin malefacere; see malefactor.]
mal·fea’sant adj. & n.
[3]
Little late on this story (i ranted about it some days ago), but hey better late then never.
[4]
This is the kind of think people like John McCain should be fighting against. McCain claims to be anti-pork and against government waste. But, he would rather go along to get along. It makes it aesier to “reach across the aisle.”
Given the size of the national deficit, these are the types of government-funded programs that need to stop. It was time to start saying “no” around 1962. Unfortunately, no one in Congress or the RNC seems to have the courage to stand up and fight.
[5]
Hey you know when you are in the first class cabin, you know you will be the second to die when the plane crashes. But while the ride lasts you keep ordering more champagne and appetizers all the way down to impact.
I am afraid that is what the mindset is for the political class right now. Party affiliation is secondary.