When you next hear someone in that hell-hole called the United States Congress or the United States Senate wailing about the lack of insurance "For The Chi'ren" I want you to take a deep breath, consider the face of the lying scalliwag and imagine a large load of cow excrement suddenly dropping on their head. 

Senator Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma) has introduced amendment 3358 to the HHS funding bill that essentially states that until all children under the age of 18 are insured either via government or private insurance policies that no "pork barrel spending" can be attached to the HHS bill.  That means no new gizmo for Senator Strident's home town, no new study by a thinktank that contributed to Senator Jerk or no new highway project leading to some obscure little island off the coast of Alaska.  No new pork!

There are those readers, no doubt, who will say that I am surruptitiously castigating Liberals and Democrats for pork spending, but I'm really not. I'm including Republicans in the mix. They have, in the past, been as bad and sometimes even worse then the Democrats when it comes to "special projects." But it will be interesting to see if Senator Coburn's amendment is passed and exactly who votes for it considering who was most strident in attacking President Bush's veto of the SCHIPS bill.  It will also be interesting to see if it survives the hammering out of differences between the House and the Senate.  My bet is that the "majority" will vote for it, but that it will get dropped from the bill after the house/senate reconcilliation is done.  That way, people can say that they voted to eliminate pork, but then also vote their pork in. 

You see boys and girls, Senator Coburn has the right idea, everyone in America has the right to expect the House and Senate to get rid of the fat; afterall its our money. But the reality is, they really don't give a flying flip through a rolling donut for you as a person or taxpayer. They really only care about being re-elected, all of 'em.

So, Senator Tom, you keep fighting the good fight, and keep on recognizing the little victories, and maybe it will change the process.  But, you being a Dr. and all, you know the consequences of holding your breath.

Posted at 04:11 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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