PORK
We all know that President Obama and Nancy Pelosi have assured the American Public that there Is No Pork in the Stimulus bill... So that begs the question... What is Pork?
According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, at:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pork
Pork is defined as follows:
Main Entry:
- pork
- Pronunciation:
- \ˈpȯrk\
- Function:
- noun
- Etymology:
- Middle English, from Anglo-French porc pig, from Latin porcus — more at farrow
- Date:
- 14th century
1 : the fresh or salted flesh of swine when dressed for food
2 : government funds, jobs, or favors distributed by politicians to gain political advantage
Hmmm.. Now let's see... what is there in the Stimulus Bill that could be defined as 'Pork'?
I'm in the process of reading the stimulus package, as painful as it is, and will bring a new pork item to this blog every day. Today's pork item is worth $90,000,000.00 of taxpayer's money.
Community education and outreach, especially to vulnerable populations... Now, I'm all for education, but what is it that all of these 'vulnerable' people need to learn about?
Do you really want to know? It's for education about Analog to Digital conversion coupons. No, I'm not kidding... 90 million dollars to tell people that they can get a coupon to convert their TV to digital.
I wonder how many people there are who actually need these boxes? The need to convert has been spread all over the media... People are panicking because their TV won't work anymore if they don't either get a converter box, or a new TV... What they don't realize is that 99% of us already have TV's that are capable of receiving a digital signal... Cable TV anyone? Satellite and any other paid TV service too- it is all digital. In other words, if you can watch MTV, you're set already. So what is all the fuss over? Why is everyone being told they have to get those boxes? Turns out there is a list of 'acceptable' manufacturers.. I have to wonder what they all have in common. Maybe a lobbyist?
The point is, all of the people who are 'educated' about this government 'benefit' (*cough* handout *cough*) are intended to be grateful. They are intended to remember their gratitude every time they look at their TV (that now shows them Jerry Springer by way of a digital converter that they probably didn't need anyway) and vote to retain the representatives who were so generous to them. That is what makes this part of the stimulus bill $90,000,000.00 worth of pork.
http://www.house.gov/billtext/hr1_legtext_cr.pdf page 36
2 : government funds, jobs, or favors distributed by politicians to gain political advantage
Hmmm.. Now let's see... what is there in the Stimulus Bill that could be defined as 'Pork'?
I'm in the process of reading the stimulus package, as painful as it is, and will bring a new pork item to this blog every day. Today's pork item is worth $90,000,000.00 of taxpayer's money.
Community education and outreach, especially to vulnerable populations... Now, I'm all for education, but what is it that all of these 'vulnerable' people need to learn about?
Do you really want to know? It's for education about Analog to Digital conversion coupons. No, I'm not kidding... 90 million dollars to tell people that they can get a coupon to convert their TV to digital.
I wonder how many people there are who actually need these boxes? The need to convert has been spread all over the media... People are panicking because their TV won't work anymore if they don't either get a converter box, or a new TV... What they don't realize is that 99% of us already have TV's that are capable of receiving a digital signal... Cable TV anyone? Satellite and any other paid TV service too- it is all digital. In other words, if you can watch MTV, you're set already. So what is all the fuss over? Why is everyone being told they have to get those boxes? Turns out there is a list of 'acceptable' manufacturers.. I have to wonder what they all have in common. Maybe a lobbyist?
The point is, all of the people who are 'educated' about this government 'benefit' (*cough* handout *cough*) are intended to be grateful. They are intended to remember their gratitude every time they look at their TV (that now shows them Jerry Springer by way of a digital converter that they probably didn't need anyway) and vote to retain the representatives who were so generous to them. That is what makes this part of the stimulus bill $90,000,000.00 worth of pork.
http://www.house.gov/billtext/hr1_legtext_cr.pdf page 36
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