The Libertarian Party would like you to know what your Republican controlled Congress and Administration are planning to spend your hard earned money on next year:
"Congress' Thanksgiving recipe for pork includes, well, pork," Seehusen observed. "Specifically, the Missouri Pork Producers Federation has been awarded $1 million to convert hog waste into energy. And just to prove they're in the holiday spirit, these turkey-barreling politicians threw in $225,000 for the National Wild Turkey Federation in South Carolina."
Also on the legislative menu: $1,593 to store potatoes in Madison, Wisconsin; $800,000 for "soybean rust" research in Ames, Iowa; $250,000 for asparagus technology and production in Washington state; and $25,000 for a banana factory for an arts program in Bethany, Pennsylvania.
But that's not all, Libertarians warn. As if to prove that no funding request is too frivolous, Congress will also spend $25,000 to study mariachi music in Nevada; $100,000 on a swimming pool in Ottawa, Kansas; $306,000 to repair an outhouse in Indiana; and even $75,000 to renovate the Merry Go Round Playhouse in Auburn, New York.
Read the rest here and try to remember the good old days when Republicans preached fiscal responsibility to the Democratic controlled Congress. You know, before they gained power and became the thing they said they'd protect us from.
Talk is cheap, but pork costs real money.
UPDATE: Max Sawicky talks about deficits and creative accounting practices by our oh-so fiscally conservative "conservatives" in this posting.
$1 million to convert hog waste into energy.
$800,000 for ???soybean rust?? research in Ames
Maybe it’s because I’m a scientist at heart, but I see both of these as reasonable expenses. The first because we must, as a part of our national defense, reduce our dependence on foriegn oil. Given that soybean rust has finally reached the United States (probably as a result of the 4 hurricanes that hit Florida this year) and could very well devastate our soybean crops, the second is guaranteed money well spent.
Granted, I’m not full-on Libertarian. But I see Democrats, Republicans, and now the Libertarians taking potshots at research projects they don’t understand. I wouldn’t mind if they took shots at programs they did understand and weren’t opposed to because they don’t want to know the results (c.f. any sex research that the CDC would find useful and the Religious Right).
I’m just waiting for someone to suggest a complete ban on research into global warming as a way to deal with global warming. Bush tried to stack the committee, but even the idealogues on that committee were forced to admit that global warming was a fact and a danger. It was a great embarassment to the Bush administration. The only way to avoid future embarassments is to completely ban the research.
I’m sure it’s coming down the pike.
Rob said: “Granted, I???m not full-on Libertarian. But I see Democrats, Republicans, and now the Libertarians taking potshots at research projects they don???t understand.”
Actually, given the fact that an overwhelmingly large number of libertarians are of the “NT” orientation (full of scientists and intellectuals) according to MBTI personality typing, I’d wager to bet that its not a lack of comprehension of the programs – some of whom seem interesting and probable for success, but an opposition to the use of their money, taken by force via the I.R.S. to redisribute to others for projects that could be funded privately. For us libertarians, the issue isn’t comprehension, we have more than our fair share of heavy thinkers – it is principle. Taking my money without my consent and giving it to someone else for their use on their projects, whether said project is a good or idea or will be successful is irrelevant. The issue is use of government force to redistribute my money. If $1 million is needed for a project to convert hog manure into energy and it has real potential then its up to the advocates of said project to find their own funding, rather than stealing from me.
11/24/2004 4:05:00