No, the headline is not something I made up to catch your attention. It is an actual fact. In yesterday’s post, I talked about the enormous amount of earmark spending that was being
requested and inserted into the omnibus spending bill coming up at the end of the year. Harrison, of Capitol Commentary fame, pointed this out to me in his comment, so I wanted to touch on it just a bit. He got his information from Gateway Pundit. They got their information from an article in the Southeast Missourian. Can you believe that U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri wants $48 billion in earmarks to help redistribute wealth in the inner cities? It sounds crazy, but it’s true, just the same. Just so everyone knows who Cleaver is, do you remember the member of Congress who accused members of the Tea Party of spitting on him? Yeah, one and the same fellow.
Rep. Cleaver has proposed a $48 billion earmark
When absurdity gives way to hilarity, you must be talking about politics.In the midst of a colossal global concern for the economic stability of our great nation, Emanuel Cleaver, Missouri’s 5th Congressional District representative, has one small earmark on his wish list that deserves some attention.
Cleaver has listed a new earmark — one of several — and he promises to “fight for every one.” But this is a whopping $48 billion package that must go down as the grandaddy of all earmarks.
Proposed by a gentleman named Lamar Mickens, president of the not-for-profit Quality Day Campus, the $48 billion earmark would funnel money into the inner cities to give money to the poor and thereby produce a much larger consumer class to buy the goods and services produced in this country.
Just call this redistribution on steroids.
Cleaver’s office says this of the proposal:
“The Epicenter is a proposed estimated $48 billion (Phase One) mass scale urban reclamation project for combating, reducing, reversing and/or eliminating poverty within under served communities by utilizing mass scale economic redevelopment to bring about stability and self reliance.
At the risk of sounding like I just don’t want to help people who are less fortunate, doesn’t this 
border on the ridiculous? It’s bad enough that any earmarks are being inserted into this spending bill, but this really takes the cake. Even though I disagree with Senator Jim Inhofe’s $44.7 million earmarks, this makes them look not so bad. And while I am on the subject, if this is just Phase One, how much is Phase Two going to cost the American taxpayer?
I know this may sound like I am still beating that dead horse, but when is this madness going to stop? How much longer must we continue to spend money, hand over fist, with very few of our representatives willing to stand up and tell the truth about the process. On top of that, we have this idiocy. $48 billion in order to funnel money into inner cities, trying to create a larger consumer class? Wouldn’t it make more sense to change our policies and create a better climate for companies to grow and create jobs? Wouldn’t that allow these people an even better opportunity to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, rather than just handing them a fist full of dollars and say go buy stuff? Is it any wonder we are going broke as a country?
This is just … delusional insanity. Our government has gone completely mad. Redistributing MY money for the people. What crock…
I would be lying if I said I understood why they want to do this. It just doesn’t make sense.
Come on, folks! We have the computer at our fingertips, resources are abundantly available, and conducting research has never been easier, yet so many are too lazy to vet (or research and confirm/rebuke) rumor.
Rep. Cleaver NEVER requested or proposed the reported $48 billion earmark. It was Lamar Mickens of Kansas City who submitted a request to Rep. Cleaver for such an earmark. All such requests are posted on Rep. Cleaver’s web page, just as they are for many politicians. Cleaver, however, never submitted any proposal for such a rediculous request! This claim is false! The Oregonian newspaper runs bipartisan “PolitiFact.com” stories, unveiling the truth on such rumors. The claim is FALSE.
Either call the Oregonian or check for a web posting after today (the post was printed in today’s newspaper, but such posts may experience delays in being published online.)
Thanks for commenting, Joan. If you will look at the date of this post, you will see that I posted it before it was known that Cleavers didn’t actually request the earmark. Also, if you will read some of my other posts, you will find that I do not write about everything that is out there. I do try to make sure what I write is the truth.
I am afraid the Pigford-Black farmer Billion dollar settlement, just gave them a taste of how easy it was going to be to pick the low hanging fruit off of us racist white folk. This is only the beginning. The next two weeks our pockets will be picked clean.
At the rate they are going, you may be right.
This congress must stop their out of control spending! This is pure insanity. Let’s throw em’ all in the nuthouse. That’s where they belong. Cleaver thinks that giving the poor money brings about self reliance? What a sick joke of a man who hasn’t got a clue about how economics work. He is keeping the chains on the poor so that they will be reliant on the government and thus vote for him and his cronies. This buying off of voters, which the taxpayers are subsidizing must stop!
I wish they could understand that, Teresa. The more they give, the more dependents they create.
I guess there is no such thing as fiduciary responsibility in Congress but there damn well should be.
I have given up hope that Congress will show any sign having responsibility, Jim. I used to hope, but their actions keep shutting me down.
I have a 3-1/2 year old son, and I’m very, very worried about what, if anything, will be left of the U.S. for him when he reaches adulthood.
I am thinking the same thing about my granddaughter, Ted. It’s not a pleasant thought.
I share the same fears for my 7 year old.
Who said that earmarks are such a tiny part of the budget?
Thanks for the kind words. Also, this guy runs a daycare center out of his house and he stands to get $48 billion?
Doesn’t seem right, does it? Maybe my wife should start a daycare. I might be able to quit my day job.
This bill was just sipposed to keep the country going through the rest of the year, but it has turned into much more than that. Outgoing politicians are now trying to get their last pet projects funded and I find this disgraceful.
Mickens and Cleaver are trying to claim that this money will help the economy because it will give low income people money to spend, but all this does is divert money from one group of people to another, it does not create more wealth to be introduced into the economy, it just changes who will be introducing this money into the economy. This has nothing to do with the economy, it is all about wealth redistribution.
That’s amazing, isn’t it. A stopgap spending measure turning into $1.2 trillion of pork. I am glad Reid pulled the bill.