September, 2014 Political Class Insanity, Part 5 - Hillary's Snobbery, Biden's Out Of Touchness, and More Wasteful Spending

This is our fifth, and probably not last, update this month on the political class insanity that the politicians around this country continually rain down on us. From wasteful and criminal infested government spending to ineffective legislation and government programs to selfish greed to their catering to monied interests and crony friends, this set of American politicians are no doubt the least effective, most vain, and most greedy set we have ever had to endure in this country.

Our proof of this hypothesis continues today.

1) Last month we did a short series around the theme, “The American Political Class - They Are Just Not Into You.” The central hypothesis was that today’s politicians could not care less about the major issues of our times or our needs, they are too busy catering to their own personal wealth enhancement and keeping themselves in tight with their political friends and campaign donors.

The first post in that series can be accessed at:

http://loathemygovernment.blogspot.com/2014/08/part-1-american-politicians-are-just.html

To continue along that theme, how today’s politicians are so out of touch with ordinary Americans, consider the following data and information that has been showing up in news reports regarding the demands that Hillary Clinton places on whatever organization wants her to come and speak to.

After reading what her vain, petty, and outrageous conditions are for whether or not she will speak to you, I dare you to tell me that she is in touch with the day to day struggles of today’s American families:

• The following demands are in addition to whatever speaking fees she is paid to show up, usually in the hundreds of thousands of dollars range, e.g. her recent quarter of a million dollars she received for speaking at the University of Connecticut.
• Those wishing to have her speak must pay for her round-trip transportation on a chartered private jet, a Gulfstream 450 or larger jet, in addition to paying for round-trip business class travel for two advance staffers who will arrive up to three days in advance of her speaking engagement.
• The host organization must also pay for deluxe hotel arrangements, the hotels to be picked by her staff only.
• Ms. Clinton must be given access to a presidential-type suite which must have three adjoining or contiguous single rooms for her travel aides and up to two additional single rooms for her advance staff.
• She will remain at the speaking event for no longer than 90 minutes and will pose for no more than 50 photos with no more than 100 people.
• For some gigs, she insists that no other person be on the stage while she is on stage.
• Press or video coverage of her remarks are forbidden.
• The only record allowed will be made by a stenographer whose transcription will be given only to Ms. Clinton.
• Clinton staffers must approve in writing any promotional material ahead of time.

This lady wants to be President of the United States. Do you really think she has any idea what is going on in the country when she is traveling around in private jets and staying in Presidential suites while minimizing her contact with the rest of the citizens in this country? Not a chance, it is obvious she is just not into you and me.

2) Let’s take a look at good old fashioned wasteful government spending. The following examples of wasteful spending are bold, original, useless, and an insult to any American who pays taxes.

The following information comes from a Washington Post investigation and article written by Colby Itkowitz, written in early August:

• The U.S. Marshals Service’s national and district offices spent $2 million over four years on so-called “swag” that included pillows, teddy bears, silk scarves and holiday ornaments, items that likely had nothing to do with their work at the Marshals Service.
• While some of the expenses were used to reward good work and boost morale, some of the items purchased had questionable “morale boosting” value.
• Among the items purchased with taxpayer money that were deemed excessive by investigators was a lamb-wool blanket worth $149 and silk scarves for $40.55 apiece.
• The organization MuckRock filed Freedom of Information Act requests for the U.S. Marshals Service, received over 170 pages of information with thousands of dollars spent on kids’ toys like yo-yos and stuffed animals. Again, more items that likely had nothing to do with the operations of the Marshals’ duties and responsibilities.
• As a result of the Inspector General’s findings, the Marshal’s office claims they have dramatically reduced the amount of money wasted on these types of items.

The fact that they have reduced spending for these nonessential items is a good thing. The bad thing is why in the world did they spend it in the first place? Do these government bureaucrats not think? Or is wasting someone else’s money, in this case taxpayer wealth, so easy to do that they do not think about it?

Even scarier, do the thousands of other Federal government agencies also spend taxpayer money on yo-yos and other such nonsense? How much more taxpayer waste goes on in similar spending habits by other government bureaucrats?

3) While Nancy Pelosi is probably our most favorite politician for saying inane things, Joe Biden is a close second. He recently made the inane comment that his grand daughters have fewer rights than his sons and grandsons. Huh? Not sure where he gets that ridiculous conclusion since:

• His granddaughters have the right to vote just like his sons and his grandsons.
• His granddaughters have the same rights as outlined in the Constitution as his sons and grandsons.
• His granddaughters have the same options in life as his sons and grandsons.
• In fact, given the wealth and prestige of being the granddaughters of a Vice President, they probably have more opportunities than the vast majority of every other American families; sons and grandsons.

Let’s look at some other realities of life that the Vice President obviously is oblivious to:

• The current chairperson of the Federal Reserve Board, one of the most powerful people in the world, is a woman and probably someone’s granddaughter. 
• The Chief Executive Officers of IBM, Intel, General Motors, Yahoo, Hewlett-Packard, and Lockheed Martin are women and probably someone’s granddaughter.
• The president of Harvard University is a woman and probably someone‘s granddaughter
• There are three women now serving on the U.S. Supreme Court, 20 in the U.S. Senate, and 79 in the House of Representatives, all of whom are probably someone‘s granddaughter.
• In fact, news reports and analysis of salaries within the Obama White House staff have shown conclusively that women working for the White House make far less than men working in the White House for equivalent jobs. And that cannot be blamed on Bush.

Another example of a politician living in a different reality than the rest of America who has no clue what is really going on in the world. As a result, with get inane comments like this and stupid policies and legislation like Obama Care.

4) A recent article by the Heritage Foundation gives one a look at another reason why the Federal government’s excessive and unnecessary spending has created an $18 TRILLION debt hole for the country. Consider the total lack of budgeting skills by executives working for the Federal Export-Import Bank:

• House investigators have found that the Bank overspent its travel budget by more than $3 million over the past few years.
• This year its travel budget was $1.3 million but the amount actually spent will come in at $2.3 million, 77% over budget.
• In 2013, the Bank budgeted $1.2 million for travel but spent $2.2 million (83% over budget), and in 2012 it budgeted $1.7 million but spent $2.7 million (59% over budget).

If a single agency cannot effectively budget for a single line item, travel, year in and year out, what makes anyone think that Washington politicians and the operations they are supposed to oversee have any chance of ever living within a budget and suffering the consequences of not staying within budget?

How many times every day, every year are similar budget busting actions being taken across the entire Federal spectrum? And worse yet, these wasteful spending actions continually occur without and consequences to those that ignore and flaunt budgets. In the real world, if you continually miss your budget, you get fired. In the Federal government, miss a budget and all that happens is that the Federal debt rises every larger.

That does it for today but the insanity will continue tomorrow. Yo-yos, budget busting excessive travel, Hillary’s vanity and pompousness, and more insanity from Joe Biden, just another day in the hell that is the current political class of America.

Our 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.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

Term Limits Now: http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w