[Rhodes22-list] Your Tax Dollars At Work

[brad haslett]

Bill,

Here is what I'm going to do about it - tomorrow
morning I'm sending letters to Senators Frist and
Lamar, and Congressman Blackburn, all Republicans from
Tennessee, a personal letter.  I'm telling them that
while I appreciate the 2005 calendar from the RNC and
the Christmas card from George and Laura, I'M REALLY,
REALLY, PISSED!  Either act, vote, and lead like the
people I voted for or get the hell out!  I'm quoting
Deng Xiaopeng, "I don't care if a cat is black or
white as long as it catches mice" and Ronald Reagan,
"I didn't leave the Democratic Party, the Democrats
left me". I'm reminding them that Bill Clinton was
forced to do a hard tack after the 1994 elections and
they'll be forced to do the same if they don't get
their act together. 

Why don't you begin the prelim work for the start of
the Radical Centrist Party and I'll go to work on the
party slogan.  How's this one, "Pork Is For Pigs!".

Brad

--- Bill Effros <bill at effros.com> wrote:

> Thanks, Brad,
> 
> I think we're all sending around the same stuff.
> 
> I wonder what we're going to do about it.
> 
> Bill Effros
> 
> brad haslett wrote:
> 
> >Rummy,
> >
> >I've had problems with W's spending habits from the
> >get-go, this is nothing new.  The problem is that
> >EVERY politician from every stripe wants to fund
> their
> >own pet projects at the other guys expense.  Why
> don't
> >we do an entire review and eliminate some programs
> >wholesale, say farm subsidies, and cut all the
> others
> >by 10% across the board.  The Congress is
> responsible
> >for the spending, the President has the veto.  W,
> are
> >you listening?  You have the VETO, USE IT!!
> >
> >Here is an article that sums up my feelings quite
> >nicely.  We'll revisit this later, I'm off to work
> to
> >pay my tax bill.
> >
> >Brad
> >
> >--------------------------
> >
> >DELAYED SUCCESS 
> >By RYAN SAGER 
> >
> >DID House Majority Leader Tom DeLay hear the rumor
> >about the educators who wanted to replace "failure"
> on
> >report cards with the sunnier "delayed success"? It
> >would explain his declaration Tuesday that the
> >Republican Party is winning an "ongoing victory"
> >against wasteful government spending. 
> >
> >As President Bush prepares to spend his way out of
> the
> >post-Katrina political muck, there's more than a
> >little reason to snicker at DeLay's linguistic
> >gymnastics. 
> >
> >Indeed, Katrina's aftermath may trigger a real
> split
> >between the big spenders who now control the GOP
> and
> >the small-government conservatives who consider
> >themselves its conscience. Republican dissidents
> are
> >launching an all-out assault on the White House and
> >GOP leaders in Congress over the Bush-era explosion
> in
> >spending. 
> >
> >"It is inexcusable for the White House and Congress
> to
> >not even make the effort to find at least some
> offsets
> >to this new spending," Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.)
> said
> >Friday, responding to Bush's speech in New Orleans
> the
> >night before, where the president pledged spending
> >that is expected to exceed $200 billion in one year
> --
> >more than the cost of the entire Iraq war and
> >reconstruction so far. 
> >
> >"We're going to end up with the highest deficit,
> >probably, in the history of this country," Sen.
> John
> >McCain said. 
> >
> >Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), a member of the
> Republican
> >Study Committee (a group of more than 100 GOP House
> >members committed to small government), took an
> even
> >harder line when I talked to him Thursday: "These
> are
> >difficult times, and there are difficult choices to
> >make, but that's what statesmen do," he said,
> blasting
> >Bush for a lack of "presidential leadership." 
> >
> >"Ultimately, it's the Congress that controls the
> >purse," Flake said. "But it certainly would be made
> >easier if he vetoed a bill." 
> >
> >When Newt Gingrich led the GOP takeover of Congress
> in
> >1994, his Contract With America railed against
> >"government that is too big, too intrusive, and too
> >easy with the public's money." Now conservatives
> like
> >Flake worry that the party's lost the mantle of
> small
> >government. 
> >
> >In fact, it's a virtual certainty. Bush has
> midwived
> >the largest expansion of the federal government
> since
> >the Great Society. His No Child Left Behind law
> >doubled federal spending on education (to no
> >measurable good). His new Medicare benefits are
> >expected to cost some $1.2 trillion over 10 years. 
> >
> >Congress has been no better. Look at
> >appropriations-bill earmarks -- pork projects. When
> >Democrats last held Congress, there were some 4,000
> of
> >these annually. Under the Republicans, it's
> >skyrocketed to 15,000 a year. And more than 80
> percent
> >of the pork boom came on Bush's watch. 
> >
> >It's shameful: Conservatives in Congress now
> compare
> >Bush -- unfavorably -- to Bill Clinton. Staffers
> point
> >out that when disaster triggered unanticipated
> >spending on Clinton's watch, that government-loving
> >liberal actually asked Americans to make some
> >tradeoffs. 
> >
> >After the 1994 Los Angeles earthquake, Clinton
> asked
> >for more than $3 billion to offset the new costs.
> The
> >Democratic Congress gave it to him. 
> >
> >After the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, Clinton asked
> >for more than $1 billion in cuts. The newly
> Republican
> >Congress insisted on more than $15 billion in
> offsets.
> >(Let's hear it for divided government!) 
> >
> >Since taking office, Bush has yet to ask for a
> single
> >offset to disaster-related spending. 
> >
> >The point of the debate among the Republicans isn't
> >about whether to spend the money needed to rebuild
> >after Katrina -- that's a given. The question is
> >whether, even under the most extreme of
> circumstances,
> >they can make even the most minor of cuts to the
> size
> >of government. 
> >
> >In a press conference Friday afternoon, Bush
> mentioned
> >for the first time the possibility of "cutting
> >unnecessary spending" as a way to pay for Katrina
> >cleanup. But he also said the effort will "cost
> >whatever it's going to cost"; his economic advisers
> >told people to prepare to watch the deficit swell. 
> >
> >If Republicans can't cut now, they can't cut ever.
> >They'll be just what their critics claim: A party
> that
> >rode into office promising Americans more freedom
> and
> >lower taxes, but now simply uses its power to hold
> >onto power. 
> >
> >Republican victory against big government, in other
> >words, may be delayed indefinitely. 
> >
> >
> >rsager at nypost.com
> >
> >
> > 
> >
> >
> >--- R22RumRunner at aol.com wrote:
> >
> >  
> >
> >>Brad,
> >>Perhaps you should read what you wrote. I think
> >>you'll understand why we're  
> >>just now beginning to bash W.
> >> 
> >>Rummy
> >>__________________________________________________
> >>Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help?
> 
=== message truncated ===


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