Chump Change
by Holden Watch
We here at Holden Watch have long been - and remain - fascinated by the things on which Congress spends American taxpayer dollars. No sooner does Congress go into session and - quelle surprise! - they spend more money of which everyone knows we have too little.
Here's another startling example of congressional priorities from last April. Granted, in Washington terms, it's not a lot of money, but we'll wager there's no one in the district who would fail to find a way to live on $50 million.
Who comes up with this stuff? And who votes for it?
On April 22, 2009, the House passed HR 388 and HR 411: The Crane Conservation Act of 2009 and the Great Cats and Rare Canids Act of 2009, Rolls 193 & 194.
Tim Holden voted with Mrs. Pelosi in favor of both bills. Few Republicans did.
The Crane Conservation Act established a new grant program to provide money to those who work to conserve crane species in Africa, Asia, Europe, or North America. A worthy goal, perhaps, but one that will cost tax payers $25 million over 5 years. It focuses largely on overseas programs.
The Great Cats and Rare Canids Act created new grant programs authorizing another $25 million over five years to fund rare cat and dog conservation in foreign countries.
Don't foreign countries have an interest in conserving their own rare species? Who gets to decide what species are "rare?"
And who are the pseudo-geniuses in Congress trying to impress by calling dogs "canids?"
America is in a recession, and taxpayers are already facing massive spending. Is this the best stewardship of taxpayer resources right now - or at any time?
Though they may not have the drama of the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" or former Sen. Hillary Clinton's Woodstock Hippy Museum, these and other, similar spending bills are useful examples of Washington business as usual, and of out-of-touch legislators' bone-headed pandering to special interest groups at the expense of all of us.
These are the sort of relentlessly occurring smaller things coming out of Tim Holden's and Nancy Pelosi's Congress that grate on voters, an annoying drip, drip, drip of fiscal irresponsibility and legislative incompetence.
Legislators like Tim Holden sniff at $50 million, a mere rounding error on a small agency's budget.
Voters know that anyone who has been in Washington long enough to view $50 million as chump change has been there far too long.