Porkbusters

Don't get me wrong, I am all for bike path's. I think spending time outdoors and getting exercise is a wonderful idea.
But I don't think taxpayers should be expected to pay a $700 million tab to relocate the CSX, so we can have a bike path as Charles Brooks, copy editor for the Mississippi Press advocates

But plans to move CSX railroad tracks may offer us an opportunity. Many places in the U.S. have transformed abandoned railroad tracks into attractive bicycle paths. The old CSX railroad bed could be the perfect avenue for pollution-free transportation and recreation in Jackson County.

Posted by Alasandra Alawine at 03:42 AM | Permalink

Via porkbuster extraordinaire Mark Tapscott comes news that a major victory has been achieved on the emergency supplemental:

National Journal's Peter Cohn is reporting an agreement among Senate and House negotiators to cap spending in the emergency spending bill for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and Gulf Coast hurricane recovery to $94.5 billion.

The total would include, according to Cohn, the $92.5 billion originally requested by President Bush and approved by the House of Representatives, plus an additional $2.3 billion to fund avian flu preparations. The National Journal is a subscription-only publication, so I can't provide a link to the full article.

I had hoped to see some more official confirmation on Friday, preferably with additional details, hence the delay in posting this news. But hopefully we'll get additional details today. I can say that I did get confirmation from a Senate source who agreed that the deal had in fact happened, but didn't have any more specifics either...

Posted by N.Z. Bear at 07:09 AM | Permalink

T.O. Lafontaine III of Long Beach ask

Why are Trent Lott and Thad Cochran trying to destroy a railroad infrastructure that has been the lifeblood of the Gulf Coast for decades? Could it be the casinos and land developers have got them in their back pockets? Have these self-righteous politicians considered what this will do to our neighbors to the east and west?

To read the complete letter in the MS Press click here.

Posted by Alasandra Alawine at 12:54 PM | Permalink

According to Ronald Salters of Ocean Springs Railroad funding is a real travesty.

His letter in the MS press states

We should not let the politicians use strong-arm tactics to push their pet project through Congress, furthering this country's debt at a time when real needs are not being met. There is a better use of $700 million. One need look no further than those who are desperately seeking housing and jobs as they are being handed eviction notices by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

To read the entire letter click here

Posted by Alasandra Alawine at 04:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Glenn and I had the opportunity to interview the House Majority Leader today on the budget, porkbusting, and the prospects for the emergency supplemental spending bill.



Audio can be downloaded here: high quality mp3 / lower quality mp3

My favorite bit was when I asked Congressman Boehner about the mind-numbingly stupid proposal that, rather than dumping the $17B in pork and other extras that the Senate added on to the emergency supplemental bill for Iraq, Afghanistan, and Katrina funding, some bright bulbs want to simply cut everything in the package by 13% to bring the dollar value under President Bush's target and sneak by his veto threat.

This would of course result in a significant shortfall in the actual emergency funds that were the point of the bill in the first place, to the tune of $9.6B less for Iraq and Afghanistan and $2.6B less for Katrina relief. But no matter, if it means the pork gets through!

Happily, the good Congressman was having none of it:

N.Z.: One of the trial balloons that's been floated -- and I believe we heard you shoot down last week --- was doing an across-the-board cut to meet the dollar target that ---

Majority Leader Boehner: We're not doing that. That's just nonsense. Our job, as members of Congress, we were elected to come here and make decisions on behalf of the American people. And when it comes to deciding, what should be funded and what doesn't need to be funded are decisions we're charged with making. And so some across the board cut so we can do probably well-meaning, well-intentioned projects somewhere else: that's skirting our responsibility.

The followup to this question, however, was a bit less reassuring:

N.Z.: Is the only acceptable answer then in your mind simply the Iraq / Afghanistan / Katrina funding, or is there a possibility of a compromise with some of the additions the Senate has put in?

Majority Leader Boehner: I don't want to predict what [House Appropriations Chairman] Lewis and [Senate Appropriations Chairman ] Cochran will come up with, nor do I want to complicate their negotiations. But I've laid my marker down very clearly, that we're not going to spend more than the President asked for.

It was great to hear the Majority Leader reiterate his disdain for the across-the-board cut approach --- but I was genuinely hoping for a firm commitment to not just the President's dollar target, but to the contents of his request --- Katrina relief, Iraq and Afghanistan funding, and nothing else. We'll be watching the House / Senate negotations on the bill closely --- and if you feel as strongly as we do on this issue, by all means, let your Senators and Representative know about it.

It was great of the Majority Leader to take the time to speak with us, and thanks to him and his office for setting this up...

Posted by N.Z. Bear at 11:54 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (4)

This soundoff in the Sun Herald makes a good point. Who is going to use the new highway that will replace the CSX railroad if the federal government spends $700 million to move CSX?

A road less traveled

• I would like to make my comment about moving the railroad tracks north and putting a highway in its place. This is a highway from somewhere and going nowhere. Nobody will use this road, least of all tourists. When tourists come to the Coast, they don't want to drive on a road and see houses and woods. They come here to see the beach and sunbathe on the Gulf waters. I think it's going to cost too much and when all is said and done, we could have used that money building back the Coast.

Posted by Alasandra Alawine at 05:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

The Sun Herald is overjoyed that President Bush is in town to address the graduates of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. They see it as an opportunity to hit him up for the $700 million to move the CSX railroad. The only thing the Sun Herald and I agree on is that President Bush should check this out for himself. He should talk to the ordinary citizens that will be affected by the railroads move. There have been a flurry of sound offs in the Sun Herald objecting to moving CSX.

Question for you
If the CSX railroad is moved inland, and we have a new east-west corridor, will they now need two Ocean Springs/Biloxi bridges instead of one Monster Bridge?

Not God’s Plan• Don't you think if our good Lord wanted the railroad moved, He would have moved it in Katrina? So instead of trying to buy the railroad, let's use that money for some of the homes we all lost so we would all have a place to live.

Bad Move• I read the governor's comment that moving CSX was a high priority. For him perhaps, but not for me. I am a resident of Gulfport whose Second Street property ends at the tracks. Having a major highway in my back yard is not progress to me. As a resident of Gulfport since the late 1940s, I do have a question for the governor. When was Beach Boulevard a sleepy road? Not in my lifetime. It has been known as U.S. 90, a major highway, and the only east-west route until I-10 was built. I am not in favor of changing the railway into a major highway

Posted by Alasandra Alawine at 05:15 PM | Permalink

The fight against the pork-laden emergency supplemental bill is now moving to the House, where leaders Boehner and Hastert have both vowed to ensure that the Senate's bloated version does not make it to President Bush's desk.

Now it seems they have support and encouragement from many of their colleagues. Porkbusters received a copy of the attached letter from thirty Representatives expressing support for the President's veto threat, declaring:

Dear Republican Leadership,

PDF of the letter with signatures is here (550 KB).

As the signatures on the letter aren't all quite legible, listed below are the Representatives who signed.

Page 1:
1. Joe Pitts
2. Bob Inglis
3. Paul Ryan
4. Gil Gutknecht
5. Chris Chocola
6. Todd Tiahrt
7. Gresham Barrett
8. Tom Feeney
9. Dan Burton
10. Tom Tancredo
11. E Scott Garrett
12. Dave Weldon
13. Stevan Pearce
14. Robert Aderholt
15. Randy Neugebauer
16. Marilyn Musgrave
17. John Culberson
18. Mike Sodrel
19. Virginia Foxx
20. Steve King
21. Jeff Flake
22. Jeb Hensarling

Page 2:
23. John Sullivan
24. Jeff Miler
25. Jeff Fortenberry
26. Mark Souder
27. Roscoe Bartlett
28. Micheal McCaul
29. Jo Ann Davis
Stevan Pearce (Duplicate signature)
30. Ernest Istook

Posted by N.Z. Bear at 02:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

The Washington Examiner challenges President Bush to use the pen:

If the House somehow caves on this one and allows the Senate’s earmark-laden emergency spending measure to become the basis of what is sent to the White House, Bush will be the last official in Washington with a chance to control the federal Leviathan’s voracious appetite for tax dollars that come straight out of your paycheck.

If Bush fails to deliver his first veto now, it won’t much matter for the rest of his term what he thinks about executive branch powers, because the Old Bulls in Congress will have all the privileges that count.

Amen, brother. Although I am keeping hope alive that Majority Leader Boehner and Speaker Hastert will ensure it doesn't come to that...

Posted by N.Z. Bear at 01:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Sun Herald touts the Senate approved 28.9 billion in Katrina relief including the 700 million to move the CSX railroad. Cochran and U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., said money in the bill would relocate the CSX rail line, replace the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Gulfport, cover uninsured hurricane-related losses at Northrop Grumman Ship Systems and replace damaged voting machines

Other Mississippi money in the bill passed Thursday by the Senate:

• Department of Commerce: $10 million for mapping Mississippi fishing grounds in order to begin underwater debris removal; $15 million to the National Marine Fisheries Service to provide technical assistance to Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama for oyster bed and shrimp ground rehabilitation; and $20 million for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Science Center in Pascagoula to complete repair and reconstruction.

• Department of Defense: $44.7 million for Seabees; $103.5 million to Keesler Air Force Base for planning and design of construction projects; and $5.8 million to the Mississippi Air National Guard in Meridian and Gulfport.

• NASA: $35 million for the Stennis Space Center and the NASA Shared Services Center for costs associated with Hurricane Katrina.

• Department of Health and Human Services: $6 million for an emergency communications network for Mississippi community health centers, and $20 million for mosquito abatement through the Centers for Disease Control.

• Department of Homeland Security: $103.9 million for the Coast Guard's shipbuilding program on the Gulf Coast.

• Department of Labor: $27 million for the reconstruction of the Gulfport Job Corps center.

• National Park Service: $83 million for historic preservation, of which Mississippi should receive $37.5 million.

• Department of Transportation: At least $10 million to the Coast Transit Authority for emergency response and recovery of public transportation equipment, facilities and services.

While getting the veterans back home by rebuilding the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Gulfport is a worthy goal, I can only shake my head at the cooperate welfare involved in covering uninsured hurricane related losses at Northrop Grumman Ship Systems. I only wonder why their uninsured losses are worthy of government help when so many small business owners are still struggling due to their uninsured losses.

Good news for those who want pork trimmed, Boehner said, "The House will not take up an emergency supplemental spending bill for Katrina and the war in Iraq that spends one dollar more than what the president asks for. Period." But according to the MS Press “For the sake of the people of the Mississippi Coast, if the House wants a fight, then we hope the Senate is ready to rumble”. Sorry MS PRESS but 700 million to relocate the CSX in no way benefits the average Gulf Coast citizen. In another article the Press tells how major rebuilding projects in Ocean Springs could be put on hold for at least the next 18 months, and the city will need congressional help to speed up the process. But the needs of Ocean Springs and the majority of Jackson County are being ignored in order to pander to the casinos in Harrison County by removing the unsightly CSX railroad from their proximity.

Apparently Senator Lott is ignoring all the citizens of Mississippi who are opposed to 700 million being spent to relocate the CSX railroad. “Lott credited the senators who supported these projects with taking the time to look at Mississippi's continued needs in the aftermath of Katrina and casting thoughtful votes despite the efforts of outside groups "to deny our state funding that only the federal government can provide”.

Posted by Alasandra Alawine at 06:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Posted by N.Z. Bear at 05:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (32) | TrackBacks (1)

PORKBUSTERS UPDATE: More developments:

The playground bully in the Senate _ the Appropriations Committee _ actually took a loss last week at the hands of senators determined to strip so-called pork barrel projects from a bill that's supposed to be devoted to the war in Iraq and hurricane relief.

And the House this week will vote on requiring members to attach their names to "earmarks" _ those hometown projects slipped into spending bills. The idea is that the sunshine of public scrutiny will mean fewer wasteful, silly sounding projects like $500,000 for a teapot museum in Sparta, N.C.

Lawmakers say voters are getting sick of all this pork; there's even a recent poll that says reforming earmarks is the most important issue facing Congress. Could it be that politicians are losing their appetite for the other white meat?

Definitely not, alas. And Trent Lott is dissing Bush and bragging about how "wily" he is:

Not only is Lott not worried that Bush might for the first time in his presidency veto a spending bill, Lott thinks quite highly of himself and Sen. Thad Cochran, Lott's colleague who happens to be Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

"Senator Cochran and I are wily guys," Lott boasted to the newspaper.

He was referring to the emergency spending bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and Gulf Coast hurricane recovery that Lott and Cochran stuffed with a $700 million earmark to move the "Railroad to Nowhere" in order to clear the way for gambling interests and other developers to construct new facilities along the Mississippi coast.

Lott and other senators pumped the bill to more than $106 billion with earmarks added to the emergency bill that originally included $92 billion. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-OK, failed by one vote last week to secure passage of an amendment that would have stripped the $700 million out of the bill.

Who was the one vote? Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee, who earlier in the day had told Bush he and others had rounded up enough senators to sustain a presidential veto.

Call me crazy, but it seems like these guys aren't just killing their party, but actually bragging about it. That doesn't seem very "wily" to me.

Crossposted from Instapundit.com

Posted by N.Z. Bear at 06:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (1)

The Mississippi Press is a bunch of hypocrites. They bewail the possibility that President Bush might veto the pork. According to them it’s perfectly reasonable to expect the American taxpayers to pick up the $700 million tab to relocate a perfectly functioning railroad without the merits of the relocation being debated. On the other hand immigration and fuel cost have no place in the bill, as the additional cost are threatening their pet project.
And please Mr. President, Senators and Congressmen; let’s be clear on this moving the CSX railroad in NO WAY helps Katrina victims. So don’t let anyone guilt you into allocating $700 million for a railroad to nowhere.
What Katrina victims do need:
Affordable housing and help rebuilding their homes
The Biloxi – Ocean Springs Bridge repaired
Debris removal
Help for our Museums

Posted by Alasandra Alawine at 04:33 AM | Permalink