"We are going in exactly the wrong direction. We ought to be standing on the principles
that made this country great. There ought to be a review of every program in the
Federal Government that is not effective, that is not efficient, that is
wasteful or fraudulent, and we ought to get rid of it right now. We ought to
say, you're gone, to be able to pay for a real stimulus plan that might, in
fact, have some impact.
I would be remiss if I didn't remind
everybody that next week we are going to hear from the Obama administration wanting another $500 billion. Outside of this, they are going to want another $500 billion to handle the banking system.
Until
we treat the real disease, this is pure waste. It is worse than pure waste. It
is morally reprehensible, because it steals the future of the next two
generations.
I am going to wind up here and finish, but I wanted to spend some time to make sure the American people know what is in this bill. I think once they know what is in this bill, they would reject it out of hand.
Let me read for my colleagues some of the things that are in this bill...
The biggest earmark in history is in this bill. There is $2 billion in this bill to build a coal plant with zero emissions.
could build a demonstration project that might cost $150 million or $200
million?
pollution; I am not against that. Even the Washington Post said the technology isn't there. It is a boondoggle. Why would we do that?
Tonight, we eliminated a $246 million
payback for the large movie studios in Hollywood .
We are going to spend 88 Million to study whether we ought to buy a new ice breaker for the Coast Guard. You know what. The Coast Guard needs a new ice breaker.
two ice breakers now that they could retrofit and fix and come up with
equivalent to what they needed to and not spend the $1 billion they are going to
come back and ask for, for another ice breaker, so why would we spend $88
million studying that?
We are going to spend $448 million to build the Department of Homeland Security a new building. We have $1.3 trillion worth of empty buildings right now, and because it has been blocked in Congress we can't sell them, we can't raze them, we can't do anything, but we are going to spend money on a new building here in Washington
.
We are going to spend another
$248 million for new furniture for that building; a quarter of a billion dollars for new furniture. What about the furniture the Department of Homeland Security has now? These are tough times. Should we be buying new furniture?
$248 million on furniture.
How about buying $600 million worth of hybrid vehicles?
new cars than Federal employees have new cars. What is wrong with the cars we
have? Dumping $600 million worth of used vehicles on the used vehicle market
right now is one of the worst things we could do. Instead, we are going to spend
$600 million buying new cars for Federal employees..
There is $400 million in here to prevent STDs .. I have
a lot of experience with that. I have delivered 4,000 babies. We don't need to
spend $400 million on STDs. What we need to do is properly educate about the
infection rates and the effectiveness of methods of prevention.
How about $1.4 billion for rural waste disposal programs? That
might even be somewhat stimulative. New sewers. That might create jobs.
How about $150 million for a Smithsonian museum? Tell me
how that helps get us out of a recession. Tell me how that is a priority. Would the average American think that is a priority that we ought to be mortgaging our kids' future to spend another $150 million at the Smithsonian?
How about $1 billion for the 2010 census?
going to cost twice what it cost 10 years ago, and we wasted $800 million on a
contract because it was no-bid that didn't perform. Nobody got fired, no competitive bidding, and
we blew $800 million.
We have $75 million for smoking cessation activities, which
probably is a great idea, but we just passed a bill-the SCHIP bill - that we need to get 21 million more Americans smoking (and paying tobacco taxes) to be able to pay for that
bill.
How about $200 million for public computer centers at community colleges? Since
when is a community college in my State a recipient of Federal
largesse?
Will we actually buy on a true competitive bid? No, because
there is nothing that requires competitive bidding in anything in this bill.
There is nothing that requires it. It is one of the things President Obama said
he was going to mandate the Federal Government, but there is no competitive
bidding in this bill at all.
We have $10 million to inspect canals in
urban areas. Well, that will put 10 or 15 people to work. Is that a
priority for us right now?
There is $6 billion to turn Federal buildings into green buildings. That is
a priority, versus somebody getting a job outside of Washington , a job that
actually produces something, that actually increases wealth?
How about $500 million for State and local fire stations?
(the federal government) realm of prerogatives? None of it is competitively
bid - not a grant program.
Next is $1.2 billion for youth activities. Who
does that employ? What does that mean?
How about $88 million for renovating the public health service building? You
know, if we could sell half of the $1.3 trillion worth of properties we have, we
could take care of every Federal building requirement and backlog we have.
Then there's $412 million for CDC buildings and property. We
spent billions on a new center and headquarters for CDC. Is that a priority?
Building another Government building instead of - if we are going to spend $412
million on building buildings, let's build one that will produce something, one
that will give us something.
How about $850 million for that most "efficient'' Amtrak that
hasn't made any money since 1976 and continues to receive $2 billion or $3
billion a year in subsidies?
Here is one of my favorites: $75 million to construct a new "security training'' facility for State Department security officers.
theirs. They want theirs. By the way, it is going to be in West Virginia ... I
wonder how that got there?
duplicates four others that we already have that could easily do what we need to
do. But because we have a stimulus package, we are going to add in oink
pork.
How about $200 million in funding for a lease - not
buying, but a lease of alternative energy vehicles on military
installations?
We are going to bail out the States on Medicaid. Total all of the health programs
in this, and we are going to transfer $150 billion out of the private sector and
we are going to move it to the Federal Government.
going to move another $150 billion to the Federal Government from the private
sector.
We are going to eliminate fees on loans from the Small Business Administration. You
know what that does? That pushes productive capital to unproductive projects. It
is exactly the wrong thing to do.
Then there is $160 million to the Job Corps Program - But
not for 20 jobs and not to put more people in the Job Corps but to construct or
repair buildings.
We are going to spend $524 million for information technology upgrades that
the Appropriations Committee claims will create 388 jobs. If you do the math on
that, that is $1.5 million a job. Don't you love the efficiency of Washington
thinking?
We are going to create $79 billion in additional money for the States, a "slush fund,'' to bail out
States and provide millions of dollars for education
costs. How many of you think that will ever go away?
$79 billion over 2 years, do you think that will ever go away?
limited, it will never go away. So we will continue putting that forward until
our kids have grandkids of their own.
There is about $47 billion for a variety of energy programs that
are primarily focused on renewable energy. I am fine with spending that. But we
ought to get something for it. There ought to be measurable results. There are
none. It is pie in the sky, saying we will throw some money at it.
Let me conclude by saying we are at a seminal moment in our country.
blow it and we will create the downfall of the greatest Nation that ever lived.
This bill is the start of that downfall.
and transfer it to a Soviet-style, government-centered, bureaucratic-run and
mandated program, that is the thing that will put the stake in the heart of
freedom in this country.
I hope the American people know what is in this bill. I am
doing everything I can to make sure they know. But more important, I hope
somebody is listening who will treat the pneumonia we are faced with today,
which is the housing and mortgage markets.
spend in this bill. It is doomed to failure unless we fix that problem first.
Failing that, we will go down in history as the Congress that undermined the
future and vitality of this country. Let it not be so."
Senator Tom Coburn (R) OK on 10 February 2009
at their faces, this is the signing of the Stimulus Bill, the Pork
Spending Bill what ever you want to call it, but really now, look at
their faces. They're smiling, why?
Is this something they are really proud of, a damned failure? Do they enjoy screwing the American people that much?