Congress earns its sub-20% approval rating

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080924/ap_on_go_co/congress_spending_10

From the AP:
The legislation came together in a remarkably secret process that concentrated decision-making power in the hands of a few lawmakers. They include House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., and [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi.
Republicans blasted the process by which the measure came before the House. Lawmakers had just a few hours to scrutinize the 357-page measure — along with 752 pages of accompanying explanations and tables of previously secret pet projects — before the vote. Debate lasted less than one hour.
The rush also ran counter to Democratic promises for more open disclosure of billions of dollars worth of home-state pet projects sought by most lawmakers.
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Pelosi and Co. played us for fools in 2006 when they promised to make Congressional spending more transparent. Ooh, they're more honest than the corrupt GOP because they *disclose* their pork now. Not to the public of course, but Congressmen had a few hours to read over 1,000+ pages (they probably didn't) and an hour of debate before passing the $630B spending bill 370-58. Talk about moral hazard, who cares if it's taxpayer dollars!?! And this bill doesn't help Main Street very much: some aid for flood/storm victims and heating subsidies, as well as insignificant increases to unemployment assistance/food stamps. During America's worst economic crisis in decades, they pushed through this new spending bill under the radar with 2,322 pet projects totaling $6.6B. We wouldn't even know about all this if it wasn't for Taxpayers for Common Sense (http://www.taxpayer.net/). Actually the timing is fortuitous for them, because everyone is buzzing about the Wall Street rescue plan, so the media might not pay much attention to this (well Congress adjourns next week ahead of the election anyway, so they were in a hurry). And if people were discussing the bill, it was probably regarding the lifting of the offshore oil drilling moratorium portion, even though that won't affect us until 2011 at the earliest.

Bush had vowed to veto such pork-laden bills, but now he's a lame duck and Congress was crafty enough to attach the earmarks to a defense spending bill. The Bushies got a record $488B for the Pentagon, including funding for 20 more futuristic F-22 Raptor fighter planes ABOVE the number requested by the Defense Dept. (which is probably sizeable). Each one costs $138M. That's like me declaring to the IRS that I am due $5,000 reimbursement on my 2007 tax return, and they decide to give me $10,000. Why? During this serious economy crisis, why doesn't the Pentagon have to scale back like the rest of us?

What, our current aircraft aren't killing enough Muslims? Has Al Qaeda upgraded so much that our present fleet is obsolete? The F-22 project is a Boeing/Lockheed boondoggle that has wasted over $60B since 1990. It's almost as bad as the missile shield. I know it pales in comparison to the proposed $700B financial bailout, but at least with the bailout Uncle Sam gets the rights to crappy mortgage securities that *might* turn profitable some day (they did in the case of the Japanese banking crash and bailout in 2002-2006, but not to say I'm a fan of the "Paulson God Mode" plan). Well, I guess we're hoping to sell the fighters to Israel and NATO allies some day, but most of the proceeds will probably go to the defense contractors.

And somehow the auto lobbyists conned Washington into securing $25B in low-interest-loans (read: free money) for Detroit, to give them yet more time to retool their anachronistic business models for the reality of $4 gas. Ordinary citizens with good credit can't get a mortgage to save their life, but Detroit gets $25B to research what everyone else already knows!?! Uh, it's not like this came as a surprise, and look what the competition has done. European companies developed more efficient diesel and constant-variable transmission, and Japan is pumping out new 30-mpg partial-zero-emission family sedans and hybrids every year. But Detroit gives us the Escalade Hybrid, new minivans (nothing mini about them though), and Ford Flex (20 MPG highway - whoopee!). We keep subsidizing these inept morons, yet funding for scientific research, college grants, disability assistance, and various social servies keeps shrinking?

Interesting link about the previous financial bailout in Japan, and it's near success (if it wasn't for the current housing bust):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7623779.stm