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The pigs, on both sides of the aisle, have returned to the trough:
Democrats' Revival of
Earmarks Makes it Official: The Swamp is Back
JONATHAN TOBIN , EDITOR IN
CHIEF, JNS.ORG
ON 2/23/21
If
there were any doubts that the party that now controls both houses of Congress and
the White House is serious about wielding power, nothing could dissipate them
more clearly than the news that House Democrats are
planning on reviving earmarks.
House
Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and House Appropriations Committee
chair Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) have
indicated they will
approve "member-directed funding for community
projects." Democratic leaders understand that the next two years provide
them a finite window of opportunity to advance a liberal agenda. Earmarks can
help them not only get their way on a host of controversial issues ranging from
immigration to "Green New Deal" spending—but keep their majority in
2022 by giving pandemic-battered voters desperate for financial help a reason
to support them in the midterms.
There
was a reason Donald
Trump said in
2018 he would like to revive the practice of earmarks when Beltway gridlock
stymied his agenda. Earmarks will enable endangered House Democrats to bring
the bacon home to their districts in ways they've been prohibited from doing
for the last decade. More importantly, the practice will give party leaders the
ability to whip independent-minded members into line—something that will, no
doubt, tempt future Republican leaders to embrace earmarks as well.
Until
they were banned by the Republican majority that the anti-big government Tea
Party swept into power in 2011, earmarks were a sleazy legislative practice
that good government types despised but that politicians loved. The pork-barrel
spending they entailed allowed individual members to further their electoral
interests, and to trade favors with colleagues. The power to insert into
spending bills provisions directing funding to local projects was, as the late
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) famously
said, "the gateway drug" to corruption and overspending.
The
argument for earmarks is that they allow Congress to control spending. As the
administrative state has grown over the last century, the ban further
strengthened unaccountable federal bureaucrats who can decide how to allocate funds
not otherwise directed to specific purposes.
Advocates
for earmarks also note that their absence has made it difficult, if not
impossible, to pass
appropriations bills. Without them, leaders could no longer punish
members of their caucuses who refused to fall into line behind compromise
measures by denying them earmarks. Buying votes in this manner made the job of
herding congressional cats easier and supposedly made the government less
dysfunctional.
But
these reasons shouldn't confuse anyone as to the real function of earmarks. The
corruption that Coburn spoke of wasn't hyperbole.
Though
the practice grew more brazen in recent decades, earmarks have always been a
standing temptation to wrongdoing. That was obvious as far back as 1939 when
the film classic Mr. Smith Goes to
Washington told a story about a naive senator who runs afoul of the
plans of a corrupt local political machine to profit from federal spending
enabled by members of Congress under its control.
It
wasn't just in the movies that members of Congress used earmarks to personally
benefit themselves, their donors and their cronies. It was commonplace and few
of those involved ever faced legal accountability. While scandals like lobbyist
Jack Abramoff bribing members of Congress to give his clients earmarks and Rep.
Don Young's outrageous $220 million "bridge to
nowhere" made headlines, they were actually typical of a
fundamentally rotten practice, a form of corruption in and of itself.
Even
when personal profit was not involved, earmarks were about buying votes.
Members of Congress would show up at local venues bearing enlarged facsimiles
of checks from Uncle Sam made out to some institution or group as proof that
they were in touch with their voters. But this amounted to Congress giving cash
back to taxpayers with an eyedropper that it previously took away from them
with wheelbarrows.
Earmarks
encouraged the out-of-control spending that has bled the nation dry and made
balancing the budget a fantasy.
That Democrats—the
party of big government—would be the ones to revive earmarks is understandable.
But so long as they were allowed to do so, Republicans were
every bit as guilty of using them for the same corrupt purposes.
In
theory, most in the GOP want to limit spending. While Minority Leader Kevin
McCarthy might dream of being able to use earmarks to police his unruly caucus,
he needs to understand that if he betrays the conservative base and goes along
with the Democrats, he can kiss his hopes of replacing Nancy Pelosi in
the speaker's chair goodbye. Earmarks may provide the Democrats with some
short-term gains. But they also prove that Democrats are the true party of the
swamp and give the GOP an issue it can use to win back control of Congress in
2022.
Jonathan S. Tobin is editor in chief of JNS.org, a senior
contributor to The Federalist and a
columnist for The New York Post. Follow him on Twitter at: @jonathans_tobin.
Jonathan S. Tobin is editor in chief of JNS.org and a senior contributor for The Federalist, a columnist for the New York Post, Newsweek and Haaretz. He can be reached via e-mail at: jtobin@jns.org. Follow him on Twitter at @jonathans_tobin and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/JonathanSTobincolumnist/
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To me, Israel's survival rests on many moral foundations, not only because of their technology:
Subject: Why Israel
Matters to the World
Israel's Technological Contributions to
our Health
Israelis do not make islands in the shape of palm trees, nor towering skyscrapers, nor expensive hotels, nor do their leaders use cars with solid silver bodies (a clear allusion to Dubai and the United Arab Emirates).
The pride of the State of Israel is that its technologies will soon be able to be used by all humanity:
1. The University of Tel Aviv is developing a nasal vaccine that will protect people from Alzheimer's and stroke.
2. Technion, Institute of Technology (Haifa), developed a simple blood test capable of detecting different types of cancer.
3. The Ichlov Center (Tel Aviv) has isolated a protein that makes colonoscopy unnecessary to detect colon cancer with a simple blood test. Colon cancer kills about 500,000 people annually.
4. Acne does not kill anyone, but it causes anxiety and dissatisfaction in teenagers. The Curlight Laboratory created a cure by emitting UV rays - high intensity, which eliminates the bacteria that produce acne without generating additional complications.
5. The Given Imaging Laboratory has developed a tiny camera in the form of pills that are swallowed and that transmit thousands of photos of the digestive tract. These high quality photos (2 per second for 8 hours) can detect polyps, cancers and sources of bleeding. The photos are sent to a chip that stores them and sends them to a computer. At the end of the process, the camera is eliminated by the rectum.
6. The Hebrew University (Jerusalem) has developed an electrical neurostimulator (batteries) that is implanted in the chest of patients with Parkinson's, similar to a pacemaker. Emissions from this device block nervous signals that produce tremors.
7. The simple odor of a patient's breath can detect whether a patient has lung cancer. The Russel Berrie Institute for Nanotechnology has created sensors capable of perceiving and registering 42 biological markers that indicate the presence of lung cancer without the need for biopsy.
8. It is possible to dispense with catheterization in many cases. Endopat is a device placed between the index fingers, which can measure the state of the arteries and predict the possibility of a heart attack for the next 7 years.
9. Bar Ilan University is studying a new drug that fights viruses by blood. It is called the Vecoy Trap because it tricks a virus into self-destruction. Very useful to fight Hepatitis, and in the future AIDS and Ebola.
10. It is possible that Israeli scientists at Hadassah Medical Center (Jerusalem) discovered the first cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known as Lou Gehring's Disease, in an orthodox rabbi. Stephen Hawking, a famous British scientist, suffered from this disease and to communicate he used methods invented by Israeli scientists.
Not only does bad news live in the world. Information like this is what is needed and must be disclosed!
AND:
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Sad on any level: https://www.frontpagemag.com/
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Tucker Carlson explains the real threat to America? You decide.
FEATURE:
The mainstream media's focus on race is a smokescreen to hide America's biggest problem
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Cantrill want to have a meaningful dialogue:
Let’s Have a Dialogue about ‘Hate’What our liberal friends do not understand -- probably because their education begins and ends with “whiteness studies” -- is the old Newtonian Science™ that action and reaction are equal and opposite. MoreAnd:
https://townhall.com/columnist
Psaki On Biden Opening Border Detention Camp For
Migrant Kids: ‘This Is Not Kids Being Kept In Cages’
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was grilled during Tuesday’s press briefing in response to reports this week that President Joe Biden has opened a detention camp for migrant kids as the U.S. has seen a rise in illegal border crossings under the new administration.
Fox News reporter Peter Doocy pressed Psaki on why the administration was reopening the facility, which was used briefly during the Trump administration, to which Psaki blamed the COVID-19 pandemic.
“So it’s a temporary reopening during COVID-19,” she said. “Our intention is very much to close it, but we want to ensure that we can follow COVID protocols, as unaccompanied minors come into the United States.”
“But it’s the same facility that was open for a month in the Trump administration. Summer 2019, that is when Joe Biden said, under Trump, there have been horrifying scenes at the border of kids being kept in cages,” Doocy pressed. “And Kamala Harris said, basically babies in cages is a human rights abuse being committed by the United States government. So how is this any different than that?”
“We very much feel that way. These are facilities, let me be clear here, one, there’s a pandemic going on,” she said. “I’m sure you’re not suggesting that we have children right next to each other in ways that are not COVID safe, are you?”
“I’m suggesting that Kamala Harris said that this facility, putting people in this facility, was a human rights abuse committed by the United States government and Joe Biden said, under Trump there have been horrifying scenes at the border of kids being kept in cages,” Doocy pressed. “Now it’s not under Trump, it’s under Biden.”
“This is not kids being kept in cages,” she claimed. “This is kids, this is a facility that was opened, that’s going to follow the same standards as other HHS facilities, It is not a replication, certainly not, that’s never our intention of replicating the immigration policies of the past administration, but we are in a circumstance where we are not going to expel unaccompanied minors at the border, that would be inhumane. That is not what we are going to do here as an administration.”
PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS REPORTER: At that point, why is the administration reopening a temporary facility for migrant children in Texas?
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, first, the policy of this administration, as you well know, but just for others, is not to expel unaccompanied children who arrive at the border. And the process how it works is that Customs and Border Control continue to transfer unaccompanied children to the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement, that can take a couple of days, I just want to give this context as people need to understand the process. But because of COVID-19 protocols, like the social distancing requirements, the capacity to existing Office of Refugee Resettlement shelters has been significantly reduced, because of course, you can’t have a child in every bed, there needs to be spacing, and we abide by those spacing to protect the kids who are living in those facilities for a short period of time. And to ensure the health and safety of these kids, HHS took steps to open an emergency facility to add capacity, where these children can be provided the care they need, while they’re safely, before they’re safely placed with families, and sponsors. So it’s a temporary reopening during COVID-19. Our intention is very much to close it, but we want to ensure that we can follow COVID protocols, as unaccompanied minors come into the United States.
DOOCY: But it’s the same facility that was open for a month in the Trump administration. Summer 2019, that is when Joe Biden said, under Trump, there have been horrifying scenes at the border of kids being kept in cages. And Kamala Harris said, basically babies in cages is a human rights abuse being committed by the United States government. So how is this any different than that?
PSAKI: We very much feel that way. These are facilities, let me be clear here, one, there’s a pandemic going on. I’m sure you’re not suggesting that we have children right next to each other in ways that are not COVID safe, are you?
DOOCY: I’m suggesting that Kamala Harris said that this facility, putting people in this facility, was a human rights abuse committed by the United States government and Joe Biden said, under Trump there have been horrifying scenes at the border of kids being kept in cages. Now it’s not under Trump, it’s under Biden.
PSAKI: This is not kids being kept in cages. This is kids, this is a facility that was opened, that’s going to follow the same standards as other HHS facilities, It is not a replication, certainly not, that’s never our intention of replicating the immigration policies of the past administration, but we are in a circumstance where we are not going to expel unaccompanied minors at the border, that would be inhumane. That is not what we are going to do here as an administration. We need to find places that are safe under COVID protocols for kids to be, where they can have access to education, health, and mental services, consistent with their best interests. Our goal is for them to then be transferred to families or sponsors. So this is our effort to ensure that kids are not close in close proximity and that we are abiding by the health and safety standards that the government has been set out.
…
ED O’KEEFE, CBS NEWS REPORTER: Picking up on this discussion about the HHS facility versus Customs and Border Protection facilities. There’s a law that says you’re supposed to get kids out of this facility, a CBP facility. But data we obtained said that there were at least 179 kids had spent more than three days in those kinds of facilities in January, despite internal policies dictating that all minors should get out within three days. Immigration attorneys, attorneys who work with these kids, advocates, seeing all of this and saying this isn’t that much better than what was going on before. In regards to the HHS, the use of the HHS facilities, it’s a step backwards. So here’s the criticism that was made by candidates Biden, Harris … the criticism concern now these attorneys who work with and represent these children who say, this isn’t much different than what the Trump administration was doing. What say you?
PSAKI: Well, so you let me let me first say that you’re right that kids there’s about a 72 hour timeframe where kids should be transferred from CBP facilities to HHS sponsored facilities and that is certainly our objective. In terms of the specific kids that you mentioned. I would send you to DHS to give you more information on that, but that is not, that is not what we are hoping to achieve. We want these kids to be in facilities where they are getting access to health and medical assistance to education. As you know there are a number who have come into the country and we’re trying to manage that as well and ensure that we are able to transfer them as quickly as possible not just to stay in the HHS facilities either to get them into families and and sponsored homes. That is our human and moral objective from this administration. But I would send you to DHS for any more specifics on those kids. It’s a fair question.
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a member.
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I am sure Garland will be approved but there is something about him that, to me, does not smell right:
m
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