Earmarks To The Right Of Them, Earmarks To The Left Of Them Into The Valley Of Waste Rode Every Politician Imaginable.

Today we do a take off on the famous Alfred Lord Tennyson work, "The Charge Of The Light Brigade" which contained the memorable lines "Cannon to the left of them, cannon to the right of them... into the valley of death rode the 600." Unfortunately, we have more than 600 politicians that constantly charge through the Valley of Waste.

We start today with reports out of California. Recall that the state government of California is about $20 billion short in its next fiscal budget. The LA Times has run a series of articles this week that tell how some state welfare recipients have been using their welfare debit cash cards not to buy food and clothing but to visit strip clubs and casinos where they then received cash from the ATM machines at those locations. The obvious conclusion is that the welfare money from those debit cards was then used as entertainment at either the strip club or casino where that ATM machine was located. The Times estimates that at least $4.4 million was cashed out using welfare debit cards at casinos and over $12,000 was used at strip club ATMs.

Now, it could be that somebody on welfare just happened to come across a needed ATM machine inside a casino or inside a Strip club and nothing nefarious went on. However, it is doubtful that nothing nefarious went on for over $4 million worth of cash outs. Second, this is the amount of fraud that state investigators have identified, how much more fraud of this type and other types are also going on in a state about to go bankrupt? The state is now blocking those ATMs at strip clubs and casinos from accepting welfare debit cards but obviously, a welfare recipient could almost as easily take cash out of their debit card in a local supermarket before going over to the strip club or casino, which would still constitute fraud. Another government program that sounds great on paper but as usual, gets fouled up in implementation, much like every other government program.

There is some good news on the fraud and waste front. Three people in the New Jersey state government have set up a website, "Report New Jersey Government Waste" (www.stopgovernmentwastenj.com) which allows state workers to identify waste, fraud and abuse within their own departments via an online form process. A person may remain anonymous if preferred. However, if their suggestion is implemented, they could be eligible for extra paid vacation days. An enhanced form of recognition in the form of cash is being considered but has not been funded yet.

The originators' strategy was based on a simple problem analysis (how quaint, politicians doing a root cause problem analysis!) and their conclusion that the front line government workers are the best source of information on wasteful government spending. Given that New Jersey is about $10 billion short relative to its next fiscal budget, these three New Jersey politicians (Caroline Casagrande, Declan O'Scanlon and Jennifer Beck) should be applauded for thinking out of the box relative to taming wasteful government spending. Or maybe, they read Page 5/Step 1 in "Love My Country, Loathe My Government" which proposed the exact same process for the Federal government.

No blog on government waste would be complete without a quick visit to my favorite website, www.cagw.org, the website for Citizens Against Government Waste. Every year they publish their annual "Pig Book" which categorizes and documents the thousands of wasteful spending items in the Federal government budget and who sponsored the waste. If Step 44 from "Love My Country, Loathe My Government" was implemented, almost all of these wasteful spending issues would go away since Step 44 would prohibit any Federal spending for any program or project unless it significantly impacted the lives of citizens form at least five states. If a program did not meet that criteria, the Federal government would leave the funding up to those states involved and the saved Federal tax dollars would be used to reduce taxes and the national debt.

Thus, in closing, just a smattering of wasteful spending form the "Valley Of Waste" known as the 2009 Federal budget, as documented in the 2009 Pig Book:

• $2.2 million for the state of New York's Center For Grape Genetics. Given that the New York wine and grape industry is worth about $6 billion, the Federal government should make New York state or the industry pay for the Center.
• $1.8 million for swine odor and manure management research in Iowa. I told you that Federal wasteful spending stinks. Let the people in Iowa cope with the smell or fund their own research.
• $866,000 for stable fly control in Nebraska.
• $1.8 million for a honey bee lab in Texas.
• $243,000 (and $12 million since 1995) for floriculture support in Hawaii even though the floriculture industry in that state is worth over $105 million. Obviously, the in state industry has enough pollen to cover the $243,000.
• $200,000 for the tattoo removal violence prevention program in California. Let's see, remove tattoos, violence goes down. I don't think so. Anyway, let California pay for it. Oops, they cannot because their money is being spent by welfare recipients in casinos and strip clubs.
• $800,000 for a New Jersey program to prevent malaria and dengue fever. Trust me, having lived in New Jersey most of my life, there is not an $800,000 malaria and dengue fever problem in that state.
• $5 million for lighthouse improvements at the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Hey, if the Statue Of Liberty did not get any federal tax dollars for its improvement and restoration, the lighthouse at Apostle Islands should not get any either.
• $270,000 for the Hood Canal Dissolved Oxygen Study in Washington state. You cannot make this stuff up.
• $400,000 to save the Salisbury House in Iowa, home of cosmetics pioneer Carl Weeks. Same argument here relative to the Statue Of Liberty.

That's enough for today, the Valley Of Waste is wide and deep, we will ride into the Valley in the future whenever we want to get depressed.


Our new book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at www.loathemygovernment.com. It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

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http://www.robertringer.com/
http://www.realpolichick.blogspot.com/
http://www.flipcongress2010.com/