One Among Many

We've talked about "earmarks" here before. The argument is that the money is already in the budget for a general purpose, so why not have the representatives of the people make the choice of where exactly it will be spent? The alternative is some nameless, faceless bureaucrat doing the doling. Of course the bureaucrat has some expertise and a big picture of where in the entire nation the money is most appropriately spent, but Americans are easily swayed by a picture of elected officials who work hard to bring dollars back to their districts.

Some say the earmarks don't matter too much. This week with the $1.2 TRILLION omnibus spending bill on the quick vote agenda we are told that the earmarks quotient is a piddling $8.4 billion. (PS to Congress, I'll take just one percent of that piddling sum and live out the rest of my life without bothering you.)

But, let's take a look at this fine gentleman from Missouri and what a few of the items on his letter to Santa look like:

Just One Year's Worth For Ol' Manny

Be sure to scroll all the way through the list to get to the very last item. The amount only displays as ######### because it is too large for the formatted table! That single tidbit alone is $48 BILLION!

Why is this man smiling?