OK, you say ... I'd veto anything with pork in it Well, MOST of us would/and do-- say that. And it is certainly something that all taxpaying individuals should be thinking about. (AND BTW, IF I were in charge, no one would be voting with ID with proof of who they say they are...most probably, many of the people who are voting, are voting for people who send them pork, and lots of it, if you know what I mean)...
Assuming you are working with the 20% left in the budget after the entitlements and salaries/pensions etc .....
How would you go about determining what is pork?? I'm not being snide here...but rather asking a serious question.
I'm sure there is much waste as well, but how to find it and determine that it really is waste. For example, how did all the "pork" that went to WV with Robert Byrd's name on it, get there? What pressures were applied to get the monies there?
And for the present and future, how to identify items like that?
People want Bush to veto many things...BUT WHAT exactly? Or is it just rhetoric? or people not knowing what they are talking about, and just talking?
Should we tell LA to get themselves back together? or should we say that to any of the other states in the Gulf Coast? Did we say that to NYC, and DC after 9-11? Plus the several earlier hurricanes and tornados and wildfires in various places in the country. Are you advocating no help here?
How about the families of the 9-11 Tragedy....should the government not given them any money? Even if it wasn't the government's (ours) fault for causing them grief (unless one counts that we did nothing at all for the previous ten or so years that tried to stop the terrorists, so they felt they could just continue on their way causing great harm to Americans everywhere, and there would be no consequence)
Did we have no obligation to help Bali or Spain after the bombings? Or the Tsunami victims and their families early this year? Or the MidEastern terrible earthquake victims and their families just recently....perhaps a greater hardship to more people than any other recent Mother Nature caused terrorism.....
We haven't even talked about all the other programs like Education, meal programs of all sorts for kids, propping up our farmers for whatever reason, the R&D we put funds into, the free vaccines for people who can't afford them, day care facilities for people who can't (or won't) afford them, drug rehab and prison deluxe facilities, etc etc etc......
What exactly should we cut, and where would you draw the line as far as spending is concerned....? |
