Can We Have A Kosher Government?

My friends know that I really like BBQ pork. I have my own smoker and think that I make the best BBQ in town. I like trying pork BBQ at different restaurants.

However, I do not like to see pork in politics. I want a kosher government that is free of pork.

Washington is voting on the largest spending program in history. The House has passed it and the Senate will vote on it over the weekend. And we are being told that it is needed and important. We are also told that if we do not support this things could get even worse.

However, this package has a lot of "extras" (a.k.a. pork) that are questionable on whether they will really stimulate the economy.

Some of the pork in the stimulus package including the following items:

• $100 million for the Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control Grant Program
• $200 million to the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund Program
• $300 million for "Violence Against Women Prevention and Prosecution Programs"
• $900 million for the IRS for the "Limitation on Administrative Expenses"
• $1 million for the Railroad Retirement Board for administrative costs
• $2 billion for the Drinking Water State Revolving Act
• $50 million for Health and Human Services to carry out injury prevention programs
• $1.1 billion for studies on the effectiveness of different medical treatments
• $200 million to upgrade labs and facilities for the Department of Agriculture "to improve workplace safety and mission-area efficiencies"
• $10 million for urban canal inspection
• $16 billion to pay for student financial aid
• $1 billion to pay for the U.S. Census
• $600 million to pay for a fuel-efficient federal auto fleet
• $650 million for the Digital Converter Box Program to help the constantly delayed transition from analog television
• $485 million to the Forest Service for "hazardous fuels reduction and hazard mitigation activities in areas at high risk of catastrophic wildfire"
• Up to $1 billion for "summer activities" for youths as old as 24-- $40 million for the occupational research agenda
• $3 billion for the Centers for Disease Control wellness programs and vaccinations
• $410 million for Indian health facilities
• $2.4 billion for carbon-capture demonstrations
• $2 billion for neighborhood stablization funds to be distributed through Acorn and other liberal organizations.

Some of these thing might be needed and important, but they should be in their own bills and not part of the stimulus package. The bill is 1075 pages in length. Who knows what else is in there. I doubt anyone in Congress really knows what is there.

The bottom line is that the government we elected has let us down. They instead are taking advantage of us to spend our tax dollars as they fit. We are seeing an expansion of government and a large increase in our national debt. Something that will straddle generations to come with debt. Our children and grandchildren will be paying taxes to cover this.

Now I agree that something needs to be done. We need to do something to stem the credit crunch that handcuffs businesses, provide tax breaks to individuals to increase dispoable income, and provide better transparency on financial instruments. These are things that will help everyone.

We do not need the hands-off approach of Hoover or the big government of Roosevelt. We need limited interaction that will make a difference to stimulate the economy. Instead, it looks more like the big government solutions of Roosevelt.

The "porkonomics" needs to end. We were promised something better with the new administration but instead it is more of the same of tax and spend Keynesian politics. The political paybacks need to end.

We need better from our government. We need to send a message to Washington in the mid-term elections that this is not what we wanted.