Obama signs 410 Billion Omnibus package; earmarks galore!
So how does Obama prove he is a liar? A man who originally promised to bring a new wave of accountability to Washington and a new way of doing things is certainly not bringing much change. For one, I am reminded by a news story from Jan 6th, where he made a very brash statement and I vowed to bring this up. Even though he was specifically referring to the first stimulus package, his words rang clear.
The package will set a "new higher standard of accountability, transparency and oversight. We are going to ban all earmarks, the process by which individual members insert projects without review," he said. "We're not having earmarks in the recovery package. Period."
First of all we know that the first stimulus bill had plenty of pork, they may not have been officially or technically earmarks, but they certainly reeked of the same stench. Still, such bold statements would certainly indicate that this man had a problem with earmarks, yet he has no problem signing off on about 8,000 of them knowing full well that our economy is getting worse and worse and NO recovery has taken place!
Several other items in this bill also taints this entire package and puts Obama's judgment into questions. According to this story from Washington Post.
School voucher system in DC is in jeopardy and Republicans were unable to stop the provision. A move by the liberals and Obama to favor the teacher unions and hurt students in DC area, one of the worst crime infested schools in America. While Obama claimed that his goal was to improve education, it is now apparent that his only interest is to do so via federal programs at the behest of the teacher unions. It is further estimated that the cost per student in public schools exceeds that of the individual voucher programs.
"Another contentious provision targets the District's school voucher program, a Republican favorite that provides 1,700 low-income students with the equivalent of a $7,500 grant to attend a private school. Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) sought unsuccessfully to strike language from the bill that would require its reauthorization after the 2009-2010 school year, a move he said would leave current recipients in limbo. "
Overall this bill represents a substantial raise to government spending in both government programs and individual pay raises. While average Americans are experiencing pay cuts, wage freezes, 401k match reductions, layoffs and uncertainty our politicians are continuing in their ways as if nothing in this country changed. How can a raise be justifiable when unemployment is rising every month? How can politicians justify their behavior while preaching to us responsibility? Unfortunately 8 Republicans jumped ship again and allowed yet another bill this country cannot afford to pass on through. Specter and Snowe are not a surprise, however 3 Democrats opposed this bill and kudos to them.
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