Omnibus Spending Bill Earmarks - $78.36 From Each Of Us

So Congress has passed the Omnibus spending bill and apparently once the differences between the House and Senate versions are hammered out, and expecting that the revised bills are passed again, it will be signed by the President.

Too bad.

There is so much wrong with this Bill, from weakening the border fence to paying close to $200 million to pay for debt counseling, which payment for by those being counseled should be lesson one in the value of money. Then there are the earmarks. Thousands of earmarks. There are many things wrong with our Government and earmarks is the perfect example of that. We are burdened with paying for earmarks because the Congressmen we elect stab us in the back to payoff their political contributors, friends, family and themselves. In a bill like this that forces much of the earmarks to be concentrated in one place, it gives you a good idea how much this is costing each of us.

According to the Heritage Foundation's Omnibusting site, the Omnibus Spending Bill contains $23,508,442,253 in Earmarks, better known by most people as 'Pork Projects.'

Divided up between the 300 million Americans, the earmarks in this bill cost each of us $78.36. Since I am the only wage earner in my family of four, this one bill will cost me next year $313.45.

That's like the Government pulling an extra dollar out of my pocket AFTER they took their taxes out of me. I consider it an extra dollar as this is money that is completely wasted and really should either not have been collected, or used to pay off the deficient and hopefully the debt. Hell, how about earmarking a little less and use this money to fix the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) that they kept promising to do. It looks like they finally will, but check out how hard it became to find money to do something that will actually benefit Americans.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The congressional struggle over how to protect millions of middle-class people from getting soaked by the alternative minimum tax this year entered its final stage Tuesday as the Senate rejected a House demand that the $50 billion in tax relief be paid for.

The Senate voted 48-46 for the House-passed bill, well short of the 60 needed to advance the measure to shield 21 million from an average AMT bill of $2,000. The measure would have covered the cost of the lost revenue by closing a loophole on offshore tax havens.

With that vote, the House was scheduled to vote Wednesday on a Senate-passed measure that fixes the AMT for a year but provides no offsets to pay for it. - AP

These congressmen have all sorts of time to fund all sorts of money for pork-barrel projects, yet when it comes to doing one thing for Americans, their response is F-you.

Now you might be thinking that $78.36 ($313.45) is not much. Well that is exactly how they get away with it. They are grabbing Billions because each Congressman is not grabbing that much. They are counting on you not to care. This way they can get away with this theft again next year. That is what this is, legalized stealing from the American People.

Note: Drunken sailors spend their own money. Congress is spending your money as if it were theirs.

Link:
Earmark Totals - Heritage Foundation's 'Omnibusting'

Previous:
$20 billion in pork = $66 Each = AMT Fix - 18 Nov
Murtha in My Pocket - 14 Aug
Alaska Screws over Rural Residents in Quest for Pork - 4 May