Well, the Democrat-authored "emergency spending bill" supposedly for Iraq passed the House 218-212, and passed the Senate 50-48. Senate Republicans said that they would not fight to stop the bill, since the President has vowed to veto it in its current form, as well he should.
The hardship for Democrats is that they must pass a bill by April 15, or else the troops will face serious funding shortages. And the Democrats support the troops, don't they? Republicans are counting on this hard deadline, and a Presidential veto, to force the Democrats to strip a lot of pork and unreasonable goals out of the bill in order to ensure a Presidential signature when it is submitted to him again.
The bill enumerates a list of virtually impossible goals for the nascent Iraqi government to accomplish, and then states that the US will withdraw its forces if those goals are not met by Aug. 31, 2008.
And pork? Earmarks? Man, this bill sure smells a lot like bacon:
1) $24 million for funding for sugar beets.
2) $3 million for funding for sugar cane (goes to one Hawaiian co-op).
3) $20 million for insect infestation damage reimbursements in Nevada, Idaho, and Utah.
4) $2.1 billion for crop production losses.
5) $1.5 billion for livestock production losses.
6) $100 million for Dairy Production Losses.
7) $13 million for Ewe Lamb Replacement and Retention Program.
8) $32 million for Livestock Indemnity Program.
9) $40 million for the Tree Assistance Program.
10) $100 million for Small Agricultural Dependent Businesses.
11) $6 million for North Dakota flooded crop land.
12) $35 million for emergency conservation program.
13) $50 million for the emergency watershed program.
14) $115 million for the conservation security program.
15) $18 million for drought assistance in upper Great Plains/South West.
16) Provision that extends the availability by a year $3.5 million in funding for guided tours of the Capitol. Also a provision allows transfer of funds from holiday ornament sales in the Senate gift shop.
17) 165.9 million for fisheries disaster relief, funded through NOAA (including $60.4 million for salmon fisheries in the Klamath Basin region).
18) $12 million for forest service money (requested by the president in the non-emergency FY2008 budget).
19) $425 million for education grants for rural areas – (Secure Rural Schools program).
20) $640 million for LIHEAP.
21) $25 million for asbestos abatement at the Capitol Power Plant.
22) $388.9 million for funding for backlog of old Department of Transportation projects.
23) $22.8 million for geothermal research and development.
24) $500 million for wildland fire management.
25) $13 million for mine safety technology research.
26) $31 million for one month extension of Milk Income Loss Contract program (MILC)
27) $50 million for fisheries disaster mitigation fund.
Looks like the only real "change" that Democrats have made to the way things are done in Washington is to add more pork and earmarks to bills. But was anyone really expecting anything different?
Former senator Fred Thompson says, I’m puzzled there’s $283 million for
dairy farmers in an emergency war-funding bill. But there’s also $74
million for peanut farmers so, I figured our soldiers are eating a lot
of peanut-butter sandwiches; they need more milk to wash them down with. Hey, I’m trying to keep an open mind, here, okay?
(h/t Sister Toldjah)
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