This came in my email just now....
Dear American:
President Bush needs to hear that we support his efforts to set the right priorities for our country, to help America win the War on Terrorism, without outrageous budget-busting pork-barrel spending, that costs our military with every new proposal.
Click below to electronically "sign" your petition of support for President Bush and budget priorities that make sense in wartime.
The President is under heavy pressure to quietly go along with "pork-barrel" spending in order the get the money from Congress that is legitimately needed for defense, security, and economic recovery. It is wrong for politicians to use this crisis as an excuse to spend more money on "pork-barrel" projects.
Senator Phil Gramm of Texas (who is retiring from Congress) told it like it is: "What I think we are really seeing is a feeding frenzy. We have had over $200 billion worth of spending proposals made, most of which have absolutely nothing to do with economic stimulus."
Sadly, in the last few weeks, politicians added 503 projects to the federal budget, for a total of $974 million, enough for:
- 21 F-17 Stealth Bombers; or
- 974 Tomahawk Cruise Missiles; or
- 23,583 Sidewinder Missiles.
One Congressman seeks a million dollars to improve beaches in Indiana, (Beaches in Indiana?) and another lawmaker $11.6 million for lakes in his district.
Perhaps the most brazen one of all called for $3 million to pay for a "digital map" to show the location of federal projects in his state-pork to create a map of pork.
In the current budget, with America under attack, pork-barrel projects reached a record $18.5 billion. This includes:
$5,800,000 - to study how wood is used in 9 states
$4,000,000 - for a giant telescope in South America
$1,500,000 - for a "Vulcan Monument" in Birmingham
$550,000 - for a national memorial to Dr. Seuss
$200,000 - for international asparagus competition
Right now, all federal spending should be dedicated to defending America and reviving our economy, not to helping politicians get re-elected by bringing home pork.
That's why President Bush needs your signed petition.
The nearly ONE BILLION DOLLARS of special interest pork-barrel spending added to the budget in the last month is proof of what we are fighting. Follow the link below to electronically "sign" your petition:
seniorcongress.org
(If this link doesn't work, copy and paste the text into your browser's address window)
Please forward this to everyone you know. We need as many names as possible to make a strong showing in support of sane fiscal priorities before we deliver this petition to President Bush.
God Bless America |
