A Budget That Can't Be Balanced?

[Riddick]

The DC Dilemma!
Soaring debt and a budget Congress can't balance
As Washington races toward the fiscal cliff, there is no hint of slowing down.

[SquidInk]

I'll just leave this here...

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/arch ... to-believe

40 Statistics About The Fall Of The U.S. Economy That Are Almost Too Crazy To Believe

By Michael, on May 26th, 2013

If you know someone that actually believes that the U.S. economy is in good shape, just show them the statistics in this article. When you step back and look at the long-term trends, it is undeniable what is happening to us. We are in the midst of a horrifying economic decline that is the result of decades of very bad decisions. 30 years ago, the U.S. national debt was about one trillion dollars. Today, it is almost 17 trillion dollars. 40 years ago, the total amount of debt in the United States was about 2 trillion dollars. Today, it is more than 56 trillion dollars. At the same time that we have been running up all of this debt, our economic infrastructure and our ability to produce wealth has been absolutely gutted. Since 2001, the United States has lost more than 56,000 manufacturing facilities and millions of good jobs have been shipped overseas. Our share of global GDP declined from 31.8 percent in 2001 to 21.6 percent in 2011. The percentage of Americans that are self-employed is at a record low, and the percentage of Americans that are dependent on the government is at a record high. The U.S. economy is a complete and total mess, and it is time that we faced the truth.

The following are 40 statistics about the fall of the U.S. economy that are almost too crazy to believe...

#1 Back in 1980, the U.S. national debt was less than one trillion dollars. Today, it is rapidly approaching 17 trillion dollars...

#2 During Obama's first term, the federal government accumulated more debt than it did under the first 42 U.S presidents combined.

#3 The U.S. national debt is now more than 23 times larger than it was when Jimmy Carter became president.

#4 If you started paying off just the new debt that the U.S. has accumulated during the Obama administration at the rate of one dollar per second, it would take more than 184,000 years to pay it off.

#5 The federal government is stealing more than 100 million dollars from our children and our grandchildren every single hour of every single day.

#6 Back in 1970, the total amount of debt in the United States (government debt + business debt + consumer debt, etc.) was less than 2 trillion dollars. Today it is over 56 trillion dollars...

#7 According to the World Bank, U.S. GDP accounted for 31.8 percent of all global economic activity in 2001. That number dropped to 21.6 percent in 2011.

#8 The United States has fallen in the global economic competitiveness rankings compiled by the World Economic Forum for four years in a row.

#9 According to The Economist, the United States was the best place in the world to be born into back in 1988. Today, the United States is only tied for 16th place.

#10 Incredibly, more than 56,000 manufacturing facilities in the United States have been permanently shut down since 2001.

#11 There are less Americans working in manufacturing today than there was in 1950 even though the population of the country has more than doubled since then.

#12 According to the New York Times, there are now approximately 70,000 abandoned buildings in Detroit.

#13 When NAFTA was pushed through Congress in 1993, the United States had a trade surplus with Mexico of 1.6 billion dollars. By 2010, we had a trade deficit with Mexico of 61.6 billion dollars.

#14 Back in 1985, our trade deficit with China was approximately 6 million dollars (million with a little "m") for the entire year. In 2012, our trade deficit with China was 315 billion dollars. That was the largest trade deficit that one nation has had with another nation in the history of the world.

#15 Overall, the United States has run a trade deficit of more than 8 trillion dollars with the rest of the world since 1975.

#16 According to the Economic Policy Institute, the United States is losing half a million jobs to China every single year.

#17 Back in 1950, more than 80 percent of all men in the United States had jobs. Today, less than 65 percent of all men in the United States have jobs.

#18 At this point, an astounding 53 percent of all American workers make less than ,000 a year.

#19 Small business is rapidly dying in America. At this point, only about 7 percent of all non-farm workers in the United States are self-employed. That is an all-time record low.

#20 Back in 1983, the bottom 95 percent of all income earners in the United States had 62 cents of debt for every dollar that they earned. By 2007, that figure had soared to

40 Statistics About The Fall Of The U.S. Economy That Are Almost Too Crazy To Believe

By Michael, on May 26th, 2013

If you know someone that actually believes that the U.S. economy is in good shape, just show them the statistics in this article. When you step back and look at the long-term trends, it is undeniable what is happening to us. We are in the midst of a horrifying economic decline that is the result of decades of very bad decisions. 30 years ago, the U.S. national debt was about one trillion dollars. Today, it is almost 17 trillion dollars. 40 years ago, the total amount of debt in the United States was about 2 trillion dollars. Today, it is more than 56 trillion dollars. At the same time that we have been running up all of this debt, our economic infrastructure and our ability to produce wealth has been absolutely gutted. Since 2001, the United States has lost more than 56,000 manufacturing facilities and millions of good jobs have been shipped overseas. Our share of global GDP declined from 31.8 percent in 2001 to 21.6 percent in 2011. The percentage of Americans that are self-employed is at a record low, and the percentage of Americans that are dependent on the government is at a record high. The U.S. economy is a complete and total mess, and it is time that we faced the truth.

The following are 40 statistics about the fall of the U.S. economy that are almost too crazy to believe...

#1 Back in 1980, the U.S. national debt was less than one trillion dollars. Today, it is rapidly approaching 17 trillion dollars...

#2 During Obama's first term, the federal government accumulated more debt than it did under the first 42 U.S presidents combined.

#3 The U.S. national debt is now more than 23 times larger than it was when Jimmy Carter became president.

#4 If you started paying off just the new debt that the U.S. has accumulated during the Obama administration at the rate of one dollar per second, it would take more than 184,000 years to pay it off.

#5 The federal government is stealing more than 100 million dollars from our children and our grandchildren every single hour of every single day.

#6 Back in 1970, the total amount of debt in the United States (government debt + business debt + consumer debt, etc.) was less than 2 trillion dollars. Today it is over 56 trillion dollars...

#7 According to the World Bank, U.S. GDP accounted for 31.8 percent of all global economic activity in 2001. That number dropped to 21.6 percent in 2011.

#8 The United States has fallen in the global economic competitiveness rankings compiled by the World Economic Forum for four years in a row.

#9 According to The Economist, the United States was the best place in the world to be born into back in 1988. Today, the United States is only tied for 16th place.

#10 Incredibly, more than 56,000 manufacturing facilities in the United States have been permanently shut down since 2001.

#11 There are less Americans working in manufacturing today than there was in 1950 even though the population of the country has more than doubled since then.

#12 According to the New York Times, there are now approximately 70,000 abandoned buildings in Detroit.

#13 When NAFTA was pushed through Congress in 1993, the United States had a trade surplus with Mexico of 1.6 billion dollars. By 2010, we had a trade deficit with Mexico of 61.6 billion dollars.

#14 Back in 1985, our trade deficit with China was approximately 6 million dollars (million with a little "m") for the entire year. In 2012, our trade deficit with China was 315 billion dollars. That was the largest trade deficit that one nation has had with another nation in the history of the world.

#15 Overall, the United States has run a trade deficit of more than 8 trillion dollars with the rest of the world since 1975.

#16 According to the Economic Policy Institute, the United States is losing half a million jobs to China every single year.

#17 Back in 1950, more than 80 percent of all men in the United States had jobs. Today, less than 65 percent of all men in the United States have jobs.

#18 At this point, an astounding 53 percent of all American workers make less than $30,000 a year.

#19 Small business is rapidly dying in America. At this point, only about 7 percent of all non-farm workers in the United States are self-employed. That is an all-time record low.

#20 Back in 1983, the bottom 95 percent of all income earners in the United States had 62 cents of debt for every dollar that they earned. By 2007, that figure had soared to $1.48.

#21 In the United States today, the wealthiest one percent of all Americans have a greater net worth than the bottom 90 percent combined.

#22 According to Forbes, the 400 wealthiest Americans have more wealth than the bottom 150 million Americans combined.

#23 The six heirs of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton have as much wealth as the bottom one-third of all Americans combined.

#24 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 146 million Americans are either "poor" or "low income".

#25 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 49 percent of all Americans live in a home that receives direct monetary benefits from the federal government. Back in 1983, less than a third of all Americans lived in a home that received direct monetary benefits from the federal government.

#26 Overall, the federal government runs nearly 80 different "means-tested welfare programs", and at this point more than 100 million Americans are enrolled in at least one of them.

#27 Back in 1965, only one out of every 50 Americans was on Medicaid. Today, one out of every 6 Americans is on Medicaid, and things are about to get a whole lot worse. It is being projected that Obamacare will add 16 million more Americans to the Medicaid rolls.

#28 As I wrote recently, it is being projected that the number of Americans on Medicare will grow from 50.7 million in 2012 to 73.2 million in 2025.

#29 At this point, Medicare is facing unfunded liabilities of more than 38 trillion dollars over the next 75 years. That comes to approximately $328,404 for every single household in the United States.

#30 Right now, there are approximately 56 million Americans collecting Social Security benefits. By 2035, that number is projected to soar to an astounding 91 million.

#31 Overall, the Social Security system is facing a 134 trillion dollar shortfall over the next 75 years.

#32 Today, the number of Americans on Social Security Disability now exceeds the entire population of Greece, and the number of Americans on food stamps now exceeds the entire population of Spain.

#33 According to a report recently issued by the Pew Research Center, on average Americans over the age of 65 have 47 times as much wealth as Americans under the age of 35.

#34 U.S. families that have a head of household that is under the age of 30 have a poverty rate of 37 percent.

#35 As I mentioned recently, the homeownership rate in America is now at its lowest level in nearly 18 years.

#36 There are now 20.2 million Americans that spend more than half of their incomes on housing. That represents a 46 percent increase from 2001.

#37 45 percent of all children are living in poverty in Miami, more than 50 percent of all children are living in poverty in Cleveland, and about 60 percent of all children are living in poverty in Detroit.

#38 Today, more than a million public school students in the United States are homeless. This is the first time that has ever happened in our history.

#39 When Barack Obama first entered the White House, about 32 million Americans were on food stamps. Now, more than 47 million Americans are on food stamps.

#40 According to one calculation, the number of Americans on food stamps now exceeds the combined populations of "Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming."

.48.

#21 In the United States today, the wealthiest one percent of all Americans have a greater net worth than the bottom 90 percent combined.

#22 According to Forbes, the 400 wealthiest Americans have more wealth than the bottom 150 million Americans combined.

#23 The six heirs of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton have as much wealth as the bottom one-third of all Americans combined.

#24 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 146 million Americans are either "poor" or "low income".

#25 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 49 percent of all Americans live in a home that receives direct monetary benefits from the federal government. Back in 1983, less than a third of all Americans lived in a home that received direct monetary benefits from the federal government.

#26 Overall, the federal government runs nearly 80 different "means-tested welfare programs", and at this point more than 100 million Americans are enrolled in at least one of them.

#27 Back in 1965, only one out of every 50 Americans was on Medicaid. Today, one out of every 6 Americans is on Medicaid, and things are about to get a whole lot worse. It is being projected that Obamacare will add 16 million more Americans to the Medicaid rolls.

#28 As I wrote recently, it is being projected that the number of Americans on Medicare will grow from 50.7 million in 2012 to 73.2 million in 2025.

#29 At this point, Medicare is facing unfunded liabilities of more than 38 trillion dollars over the next 75 years. That comes to approximately 8,404 for every single household in the United States.

#30 Right now, there are approximately 56 million Americans collecting Social Security benefits. By 2035, that number is projected to soar to an astounding 91 million.

#31 Overall, the Social Security system is facing a 134 trillion dollar shortfall over the next 75 years.

#32 Today, the number of Americans on Social Security Disability now exceeds the entire population of Greece, and the number of Americans on food stamps now exceeds the entire population of Spain.

#33 According to a report recently issued by the Pew Research Center, on average Americans over the age of 65 have 47 times as much wealth as Americans under the age of 35.

#34 U.S. families that have a head of household that is under the age of 30 have a poverty rate of 37 percent.

#35 As I mentioned recently, the homeownership rate in America is now at its lowest level in nearly 18 years.

#36 There are now 20.2 million Americans that spend more than half of their incomes on housing. That represents a 46 percent increase from 2001.

#37 45 percent of all children are living in poverty in Miami, more than 50 percent of all children are living in poverty in Cleveland, and about 60 percent of all children are living in poverty in Detroit.

#38 Today, more than a million public school students in the United States are homeless. This is the first time that has ever happened in our history.

#39 When Barack Obama first entered the White House, about 32 million Americans were on food stamps. Now, more than 47 million Americans are on food stamps.

#40 According to one calculation, the number of Americans on food stamps now exceeds the combined populations of "Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming."

Is it even remotely possible that bomb lobbing boogeymen are not the primary threat we face? Nah, wtf am I talking about. I'll delete this post.

[Dude111]

Excellent reply bud!

[SquidInk]

Less of a rebuttal to Riddick's video & more of a complimentary piece, I thought. But I agree Dude, it's an eye opener. I would say it's a reason, of sorts, for the way the news is structured and presented.

[Riddick]

Is it even remotely possible that bomb lobbing boogeymen are not the primary threat we face? Nah, wtf am I talking about. I'll delete this post.

Federal fiscal policy is no threat - If it was, we'd see elected officials take steps to avert another market meltdown NOW and not wait 'til then to do something about it - Hey, nothing like circular reasoning to take the edge off, eh?

You gotta hand it to our leaders, keeping the floating crap game going as long as they have. I can't help but notice all the news stories lately about the economy coming a long way this last half decade, with about $12 trillion in new wealth created in that time, and how this is all the real deal and NOT just from the Fed priming the pump...

Yeah, right. No bubble blowing up, leading to a burst? It's always been boom to bust and back again. Washington awash in an ocean of red ink setting new record high sea levels with no end in sight can't be a good thing. But how's that gonna change for the better when voters continually send in the clowns, and childish ones to boot?

So much as the economy runs a full circle, maintaining that geometry is genetic, for Dems and Reps alike in DC. The way it works government ain't nothing but a Barnum and Bailey two-party family circus, knowhutImean!

[Cherry Kelly]

and you can add this to make it

#41 http://cnsnews.com/news/article/7260000 ... nce-and-uk

[Doka]

In my opinion it will never be paid, that is probably why our currency will fail. Bankruptcy of the World?

[Diogenes]

I would bet most folks don't know the difference between the debt and deficit.

If you listen and watch any of these man on the street interviews it is chilling (not even funny) what most have no clue is going on around them.

These are the folks who vote their letter designation.

[Riddick]

In a letter accompanying the audit report that was sent to President Obama and leaders of Congress, Gene Dodaro, comptroller general of the United States warned “Absent policy changes, the federal government continues to face an unsustainable long-term fiscal path.” FULL STORY

[kbot]

How about Cruz's idea of filing your taxes using a postcard???????

We have rampant identity theft as it is, and this guy wants us to file tax returns (presumably using person information such as name, dob and social security number, and mail it in on a postcard...........

[Cherry Kelly]

Maybe if we stop all the "riders" on Bills - you know riders giving out $$ for this, that and the other - that has little or not constitutional connection - might help too.

[kbot]

A little dated, but, these things are still active........

Top 20 Worst Ways the Government Wasted Your Tax Dollars

Every year, Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn and his staff compile an exhaustive volume of wasteful government spending from that year. The 2014 tome is chock full of government waste ranging from the redundant to the downright absurd. Oh, and by the way, the U.S. national debt is approaching $18 trillion.

Here is a list of my personal worst of the worst in federal waste:

Swedish massages for rabbits: $387,000

The National Institutes of Health paid this six figure sum to the National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine in order to discern whether Swedish massages would be helpful in recovering from an illness.


“A group of rabbits received daily rub downs from a 'mechanical device that simulates the long, flowing strokes used in Swedish massages.'”

Teaching Mountain Lions to Ride a Treadmill: $856,000

The National Science Foundation shelled out nearly a million taxpayer dollars to determine if captive mountain lions could be trained to ride a treadmill. The University of California-Santa Cruz researcher even boasted about receiving the grant saying, “People just didn’t believe you could get a mountain lion on a treadmill, and it took me three years to find a facility that was willing to try.” If anyone was wondering, it took the lions all of eight months to learn.

Studying how many times “hangry” people stab a voodoo doll: $331,000

After teaching mountain lions about treadmills, the National Science Foundation also funded a study to come up with the self evident conclusion that hungry people tend to be more angry and aggressive. They tested this theory by allowing spouses to poke pins into voodoo dolls as their “hanger” grew.


“Over the course of twenty-one consecutive evenings, 107 couples were given a chance to stick up to 51 pins into a voodoo doll representing their spouse. The pin-pushing happened in secret, away from the other partner. Participants then recorded the number of pins they poked into the dolls. Those tests revealed what may already be obvious to many couples: a spouse with low blood sugar was an angrier one, and stuck more pins in the doll.”

Studying the gambling habits of monkeys: $171,000

Another NSF grant funded the study of gambling monkeys. Under the guise of studying the “hot-hand bias” in human gamblers, the University of Rochester devised a computer game, taught monkeys to play it, and studied how they responded to winning and losing. A doctoral candidate who worked on the study seemed pleased to learn, “Luckily, monkeys love to gamble.” Taxpayers, on the other hand, will not be pleased to find out this study is set to continue through May of 2018.

Producing the children’s musical: Zombie in Love: $10,000

The National Endowment for the Arts funded the production of a musical to die for. Aimed at children four and up, the musical tells the story of Mortimer the teenage zombie and his quest to find love and happiness. The NEA officials justified this use of tax money by saying that Mortimer “exemplifies anyone who has felt like an outsider.”

Funding a “Stoner Symphony”: $15,000

The location of this performance shouldn’t shock anyone. What is sure to shock taxpayers is the amount of their money that was provided to the Colorado Symphony Orchestra to host “Classically Cannabis: The High Note Series.” Not only was the program pot-related, the people were encouraged to inhale (and chow down) while watching.


“One of the three concerts, called Summer Monsoon, advertised on its website this way, ‘Smoke up and fill your belly with Manna’s spiced pork, Sesame Seed Teriyaki Chicken, & Filipino Empanadas.’”

Subsidizing Alpaca Poop: $50,000

In addition to this project making the cut for Sen. Coburn, this little gem was also covered by CNSNews.com last month. The U.S. Department of Agriculture shelled out a hefty sum to help develop and market Alpaca “Poop Packs” for use as fertilizer. This is government waste, literally.

Synchronized Swimming for Sea Monkeys: $307,524

This project garnered the support of three government agencies (National Science Foundation, Office of Naval Research, and U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation). In an effort to study the swirl created when sea monkeys move throughout the water, researchers developed a “laser guided,” “choreographed” team of synchronized swimming sea monkeys.

Produce a “Hallucinatory” Roosevelt/Elvis show: $10,000

In what could quite possibly be the weirdest project on this list, the NEA helped fund the production of a show about the hallucinatory journey of a girl pretending to be Elvis and gallivanting around with America’s 26th president.


“In one scene, Ann hallucinates that she is Elvis, and that she and Teddy are romping around their hotel room in their underwear, with Teddy eventually riding around on Elvis’s back as though he were a bucking bronco.”


Funding Climate Change Alarmist Video Game: $5.2 million

As polls show climate change is dead last on the Americans’ list of priorities, the NSF felt the need to help “spur climate change activism.” They paid Columbia University to develop a video game entitled “Future Coast,” where rising seas cause mass chaos and weather calamities of epic proportions. The story is set to a bunch of voicemails from the future describing the anarchy.

“One caller claims “neo-luddites” are out to kill anyone with scientific knowledge,496 and another paints a cryptic image of a zombie apocalypse saying that ‘when you see them, you will know what to do.’”

Teaching Kids to Laugh: $47,000

The National Endowment for the Humanities funded classes at UCLA and Butler University to teach college students about laughter. In seminar’s like “Why is it funny” student will presumably learn “how laughter plays with our perceptions” and “whether comedy is a ‘guy thing’.”


““As a final project, students will develop
either a stand-up routine or a, “comedy piece using the tools of digital storytelling.”

Developing a real-life Iron Man Suit: $80 million

It seems the DoD is attempting to capitalize on the popularity of the Iron Man movies in order to develop its very own real-life replica. Dubbed TALOS (Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit), the Pentagon will spend the next four years trying to build a suit made “of military super-armor to withstand bullets and carry hundreds of pounds, all powered by [a] futuristic energy source.” But, there’s one slight problem, it doesn’t work:


“And while a promotional video for the TALOS program shows bullets ricocheting off a cartoon soldier dressed in the suit, field tests have so far found soldiers struggling to run, dive, and shoot when using the real thing.”

Tweeting at Terrorists: $3 million

The State Department is aiming to fight terrorists in ISIS and al-Qaeda online as well as on the battlefield. Its new program is intended to “counter the sophisticated propaganda machines of terrorist groups around the globe.” However, their Twitter campaign, “Think Again, Turn Away” has been almost universally panned as not only ineffective but also counter-productive.


“A recent commentator in Time Magazine put it more bluntly, saying, ‘this outreach by the U.S. government is not only ineffective, but also provides jihadists with a stage to voice their arguments...’”

Predicting the End of Humanity: $30,000

As opposed to finding new ways to explore the solar system, NASA is instead spending its budget on a study to predict how the world will end. Researchers from the University of Maryland and Minnesota came back with an intriguing and politically advantageous answer: Income inequality. They warned that an “unequal distribution of wealth” has “led to civilizational collapse.”

Funding Kids Dressing Like Fruits and Vegetables: $5 million

Another wasteful project also caught by CNSNews.com. The University of Tennessee used $5 million of taxpayer money allowing student to dress up like fruits and veggies in an attempt to promote healthy eating habits. “Students created the term ‘fruved’ to describe ‘the process of eating FRUits and VEgetables.’”

“The students are divided into five teams – amusingly labeled Spinach, Carrot, Banana, Grapes, and Tomato – which are led by costumed mascots.”

Help Parents Counter Kids’ Refusals to Eat Fruits and Veggies: $804,254

In an attempt to aid parents across America whose kids have refused to eat their greens, the NIH has funded a Smartphone game called “Kiddio: Food Fight.” The game is supposed to help parents counter sophisticated childhood rebuttals like “Yuk!”

“Parents will select a vegetable to offer Kiddio and then select a tactic for influencing Kiddio to eat the veggie.”

Lost electronic devices from NASA: $1.1 million

It seems thousands of agency provided electronics are lost in space. NASA hasn't kept track of the thousands of Smartphones, tablets, and AirCards they've provided their employees. At the same time, “Over 2,000 devices – 14 percent of the total owned by the agency– went unused for at least 7 months from 2013-2014.” On the agency’s list of lost items, they've listed “laptops, video tapes, and moon rocks.”

Studying if Wikipedia is Sexist: $202,000

The NSF sent nearly a quarter of a million dollars to NYU and Yale researchers to study if any gender bias existed on the website Wikipedia. Because Wikipedia can be edited by almost anyone, the study followed “accusations of sexism in content and among contributors at Wikipedia.” One example of sexism uncovered by researchers was quite the bombshell:


Wikipedia contributors were biased because they had characterized some female novelists as “American Female Novelists” on Wikipedia, rather than “American Novelists.”

Asking heavy drinkers not to drink through text message: $194,090

Researchers plan to use this swath of taxpayer money to conduct a study wherein they text “heavy drinkers,” warn them not to drink, and monitor whether they do in fact get drunk.


“For example, some study subjects will get a daily 3 P.M. text message reminding them of the consequences of heavy drinking.”

Government Funded Ice Cream: $1.2 million

The USDA is paying dairy farmers to produce ice cream and many other dairy confections:

“In Wisconsin and New York, a farmer cooperative and creamery received a grant to expand production and marketing of organic Greek yogurt. A Missouri farm will be using a grant it received also to produce yogurt, but from sheep’s milk. A farm in Pennsylvania received a grant as well to expand its yogurt business but will use some of the money to build its Mexican chocolate business.”

http://www.cnsnews.com/mrctv-blog/curti ... ax-dollars

[voguy]

A fellow who I knew as a State Senator summed it up nicely on these programs.

They spend on goofy programs because; a) it's a favor for someone, b) both receive federal money, c) there is no loss personally nor accountability, and d) to some people it shows they are doing something.