Handy Reference
H/T Michelle Malkin
Here’s a handy list of Generational Theft Act pork and other abominable buried treasures to pass out to your friends and family. One glaring omission, though: Add in the $200 billion-plus government-guaranteed mortgage entitlement championed by Sens. McConnell, Graham, and Ensign.
Kill the bill. Stab it. Stick a fork in it. Then start over:
* $2 billion earmark to re-start FutureGen, a near-zero emissions coal power plant in Illinois that the Dept. of Energy defunded last year because the project was inefficient
* A $246 million tax break for Hollywood movie producers to buy motion picture film
* $650 million for the digital television (DTV) converter box coupon program
* $88 million for the Coast Guard to design a new polar icebreaker (arctic ship)
* $448 million for constructing the Dept. of Homeland Security headquarters
* $248 million for furniture at the new Dept. of Homeland Security headquarters
* $600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees
* $400 million for the CDC to screen and prevent STD’s
* $1.4 billion for a rural waste disposal programs
* $125 million for the Washington, D.C. sewer system
* $150 million for Smithsonian museum facilities
* $1 billion for the 2010 Census, which has a projected cost overrun of $3 billion
* $75 million for “smoking cessation activities”
* $200 million for public computer centers at community colleges
* $75 million for salaries of employees at the FBI
* $25 million for tribal alcohol and substance abuse reduction
* $500 million for flood reduction projects on the Mississippi River
* $10 million to inspect canals in urban areas
* $6 billion to turn federal buildings into “green” buildings
* $500 million for state and local fire stations
* $650 million for wildland fire management on Forest Service lands
* $150 million for Smithsonian museum facilities
* $1.2 billion for “youth activities,” including youth summer job programs
* $88 million for renovating the headquarters of the Public Health Service
* $412 million for CDC buildings and property
* $500 million for building and repairing NIH facilities in Bethesda, MD
* $160 million for “paid volunteers” at the Corporation for National and Community Service
* $5.5 million for “energy efficiency initiatives” at the VA “National Cemetery Administration”
* $850 million for Amtrak
* $100 million for reducing the hazard of lead-based paint
* $75M to construct a new “security training” facility for State Dept Security officers when they can be trained at existing facilities of other agencies.
* $110 million to the Farm Service Agency to upgrade computer systems
* $200 million in funding for the lease of alternative energy vehicles for use on military installations.
* IDEA, Part B State Grants: Formula grants to assist the States in meeting the excess costs of providing special education and related services to children with disabilities.
* IDEA Infants and Families: Formula grants to the States to assist them in making early intervention services available to children with disabilities aged birth through 2 and their families.
* State Medicaid Bailout: $87.7 billion Through 3 different mechanisms, the bill would provide additional federal funds to state Medicaid programs over the next 3 years. This is nearly $70 billion more than the governors asked President Obama for in December, and
should be a loan to be repaid by the states.
Bad Policy
* Eliminates fees on loans from the Small Business Administration, thus pushing private capital toward unproductive businesses and away from productive businesses.
* Increases the definition of “youth” for certain summer job programs from age 21 to age 24.
* $160 million to the Job Corps program at the Dept. of Labor, but not for job programs - rather, to construct, alter or repair buildings.
* Requires a government study on the impact of minimum wage laws on the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa.
* $79 billion State Fiscal Stabilization (slush) Fund to bailout the States by providing billions of dollars for “education” costs of any kind.
* $47.843 billion is appropriated for a variety of energy programs that are primarily focused on renewable energy development and energy conservation/efficiency. Not one dollar is appropriated to make fossil fuels more affordable in the near future. More than $6
billion of these funds go to environmental clean ups.
* Increases eligibility for “weatherization” assistance to households 200 percent above the poverty level.
* The “Making Work Pay” credit of $500 to every individual making less than $75,000 (or $1000 to couples making $150,000 or less) would pay people whether they are productive or not - akin to welfare.
* The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP - food stamps) would temporarily suspend the 3-month limit for non-working adults to receive SNAP benefits, thus giving incentives not to find a job.
* Installs government as the creator of broadband deployment regardless of whether the specific local/regional market can sustain it.
* Funds new “green jobs” job-training program without eliminating inefficient job-training programs or consolidating duplicative job-training programs.
* $890 million to the Social Security Administration without any provisions to reduce improper payments, or any plan to increase solvency of the trust fund.
* Nothing requires the products that are purchased with these funds be here in America. Lithium ion batteries, for instance, are primarily made in Asia.