After an initial review of the legislation, several wasteful and unnecessary provisions have already been identified:
• Earmarks: Instead of reducing the number of pork projects in the federal budget, the bill drives the number of earmarks up from last year. The bill contains over 8,000 earmarks, bringing the total for 2008 up to over 10,000 earmarks compared to just 2,658 in 2007.• Spending Gimmicks: Instead of cutting wasteful spending out of the bill to bring its cost down to the President’s level, the bill uses budget tricks and gimmicks to hide at least $14 billion in extra domestic spending.
• Policy Riders: Instead of limiting the package to spending needed to fund government operations, the bill includes unrelated policy items. Many of these riders are backed by special interests, such as organized labor, and could not win passage
on their own.
Fourteen Billion Dollars of extra domestic spending? FOURTEEN BILLION DOLLARS?
Let's do some basic math, shall we? The cost for an up-armored humvee is approximately 140,000. Fourteen BILLION dollars would buy 100,000 up-armored humvees.
The US Armed Forces currently has a little over 1,400,000 active duty servicemembers. Fourteen BILLION dollars would give each and every active duty servicemember a $10,000 raise.
Fourteen billions dollars would be enough to exchange the crappy M-16 rifle for a weapon that will actually function in the desert. FOR ALL THE SERVICES.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Keep that in mind the next time you head to the voting booth.
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