Hogs At The Congressional Trough

The "waste in Washington" is generally described as the frivolous money being spent by members of Congress and Senators alike who push large contracts back to their own districts. Giuliani loves to decry these on the campaign trail, despite being a recipient of numerous earmarks himself. Bush and others high up in the GOP lambast the earmarks, supposedly trying to act like good conservatives that rein in wasteful spending. Of course reality has a way of getting in these people's shpeels. Ted Stevens(R-AK) and Thad Cochran(R-MS) personify the GOP brand, one that wastes more than any other sets of politicians at any other given time.

From The Hill:

Sen. Thad Cochran (Miss.), ranking Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, has collected $774 million worth of earmarks in 12 spending bills. After Cochran, Sen. Ted Stevens (Alaska), the second-ranking Republican on Appropriations, secured more money for special projects than any other member of Congress: $502 million.

Rep. Bill Young (Fla.), the ranking Republican on the Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, is the second-biggest recipient of earmarked funds in the House, securing $161 million. Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), the subcommittee’s chairman, secured $162 million in funds.

Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan group that tracks earmarks and federal spending, compiled the figures.

Sure, there will be Democrats in that list. Not only Republicans are susceptible to greed and the old boys network. Still, there has never been a culture of corruption like that of the current GOP majority minority

FOIA: By The People, For The People....Blocked By GOP

The Freedom of Information Act was created to make our government more honest, open and accountable. Of course it is hard to make every bill work exactly how you want it, and with the FOIA there are still snags that prevent people from accessing information about governmental agencies and what not. Unfortunately a bill that seeks to remedy the problems is being blocked by the party that wants the most repressive and closed government this nation has ever seen. Which party might that be....well you already know.

From RawStory:

"The Republican obstructionism continues in the Senate and the latest casualty is Americans’ access to their government," Senator Leahy said. "I am deeply disappointed that Republicans continue to block attempts to pass the Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act” (“OPEN Government Act”).

In Senate floor action on July 26, Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS) held up passage of Leahy's legislation.

"It is my understanding that there are ongoing discussions with both sides of the aisle as well as the administration to come up with bipartisan consensual language on this issue and that we are unable to get clear the agreement at this time," Cochran said in his floor statement.

He then objected to the bill on behalf of himself and 'several Republican Senators,' preventing the legislation from being adopted by 'unanimous consent.

Sometimes the rules of the Senate really piss me off. They helped us when we were in the minority, but now that the tables have changed and the Senate is trying to do some good in this nation instead of continually setting it back, it is kind of a pain. Wouldn't it be great to have 60 Democratic Senators one day so that we can skip this crap and reform our government for the better?