[tomder55]

Get behind a bill most people support ;like Covid relief .Then load it up with 5,593 pages of porkulus . Get your $600 check ? Good for you.
But how about these other spending priorities ?

$86 million for assistance to Cambodia; $130 million to Nepal, $135 million to Burma, $453 million to Ukraine, $700 million to Sudan. $1.3 billion for Egypt and the Egyptian military which mostly buys Ruskie equipment . $710 million to provide Syrians with weapons and training.

For Pakistan among it's benefits includes $15 million for democracy programs and $10 million for gender programs.


$40 million for The Kennedy Center operating expenses, which received $25 million in the last covid bill. It is not even open at this time. $1 billion for the Smithsonian and an additional $154 million for the National Gallery of Art.


There are funds to study the 1908 Springfield Illinois race riot .
There are funds for the creation of 2 museums ....Woman's History and Latino Museum.

There are funds to create a commission to educate “consumers about the dangers associated with using or storing portable fuel containers for flammable liquids near an open flame."

There is a statement about the Dali Lama's reincarnation or his likely successor ..


The Senate gets $89,615,280 to buy new furniture.
Congress gave themselves a $100,000 raise for all their tireless efforts at spending other people's money ;and monopoly money that does not exist .
Rand Paul blasted both sides of the aisle for this wreckless spending right on ! He may be the only voice of sanity left on Capitol Hill
Senator Paul: Stop Piling Debt on Future Generations, Open the Economy, and Cut Waste in the Budget - YouTube

[paraclete]

one day you will prevent these add ons to a bill so that debate is about one issue. There appears to be a voice crying in the wilderness of an empty hall

[jlisenbe]

This gets my vote for post of the year. I'm copying it to Facebook.

[tomder55]

I'm sure their "fact checkers " will accuse your post of missing context . What is hilarious to me is that the proposal the administration started with was a $1.8 trillion direct for covid relief and it ended up being halved and loaded with pork. And they shelved the most controversial proposals which would've even jacked up the bill more .

[jlisenbe]

So very true. It's the result of pols who have figured out that we, the people, no longer care about balanced budgets. The day will come when we will, but it will likely be a sad day. I can tell you this. It's hard to get much traction in getting anyone interested in the subject.

[tomder55]

The Tea Party was formed over outrage about a $900 Billion bill. Here we have another $900 billion bill and the whine is that it is not nearly enough .

[jlisenbe]

Yeah. When Brother Biden gets in, he has already promised to spend two or three tril more of the Monopoly money.

[paraclete]

By the time Biden gets there you will be out of monopoly money and will have to use bananas

[jlisenbe]

Just make sure you’re brushing up on your Chinese.

[paraclete]

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...tail&FORM=VIRE
How Trump stole Christmas he vetoed all the goodies

[jlisenbe]

We need someone to do a LOT of vetoing. Only way to get the budget under control. I feel pretty sure that KH/JB won't be the ones doing it.

[paraclete]

Just make sure you’re brushing up on your Chinese.

Ne How Ma

I suggest you take your own advice, the Chinese own a lot of US Treasury Notes, much more of yours than they do of ours

Xie Xie

[Athos]

Ne How Ma

Ah Bou How

[jlisenbe]

I suggest you take your own advice, the Chinese own a lot of US Treasury Notes, much more of yours than they do of ours

They actually own a fairly small percentage of the total, something under 10% as I remember.

[tomder55]

US debt is $26 trillion .China finances $1.1 trillion. So let's say China decided to destabilize by sell US debt . Do you think there wouldn't be other nations and private actors who would not buy ? China sold off $180 billion in 2015 and the market did not budge.

The concern here is that we keep on adding on to the debt ;not who finances it. The concern here is that fiscal restraint has been stricken from the political debate except for Paul cry from the wilderness. Half of the country think we should be getting into greater debt with their gimmee policies .

[talaniman]

Rich people don't care about the debt or the government. Never did. Who you guys trying to fool? You only scream when not enough pie lands in YOUR plate.

[paraclete]

There is nothing wrong with small government tal, it is somewhere for fewer people to be employed, but without debt things don't get done, no new bridges, no new aircraft carriers, ah what's the use................

[talaniman]

If you're a small country then a small government may be cool, but small we are not and neither is the handling of the peoples business. We may be building planes and boats but bridges not so much. Big government may be inefficient, but smaller government is no better, it's even worse.

[jlisenbe]

without debt things don't get done, no new bridges, no new aircraft carriers, ah what's the use................

Things get done without debt all the time, a fact that we will be facing at some point in the future. The stupidity of our Congress is to pass a 900 billion dollar stim package which only sends 150 bil or so to people. Billions and billions go overseas or to large businesses in the U.S. It is lunacy with tax money, and it is far beyond lunacy with borrowed money.

[paraclete]

Things get done without debt all the time, a fact that we will be facing at some point in the future. The stupidity of our Congress is to pass a 900 billion dollar stim package which only sends 150 bil or so to people. Billions and billions go overseas or to large businesses in the U.S. It is lunacy with tax money, and it is far beyond lunacy with borrowed money.

Yes but it is a lunacy that is purely your own. Your politicians have been on a steady diet of pork for decades and there is no such thing as fiscal restraint, completely unknown to the current generation. you have grasshopper minds over there, noone can stay on subject but run around pursuing their own agenda, so you spend billions on non essentials