More Porkbusting From Sen. Coburn

Sean Davis (an aide) reports:

I wanted to provide you all with an update about Dr. Coburn’s efforts to block additional LIHEAP spending that would bust the budget. Last week, Dr. Coburn raised a budget point of order against Senator Snowe’s bill to increase LIHEAP spending by $1 billion without paying for it. The Senate voted to waive the budget rule (i.e., ignore budget rules) by a vote of 66 to 31.

Earlier this morning, as the Senate debated the LIHEAP bill, Dr. Coburn highlighted the wasteful pork projects in the states of those who are co-sponsoring the LIHEAP legislation (ME, MN, NH, OH, and PA). Even though those states are expected to receive an additional $145 million from Snowe’s LIHEAP bill, the combined total of pork in those states totaled $777 million for the current fiscal year. Thus, instead of funding earmarks like blueberry research, we could have easily funded additional energy assistance for low-income families.

Senator Snowe is of course very worried about Bush's tax cuts, which she views as "spending" without "paying as you go."

But blueberry research... well, God knows, the Republic simply cannot endure without some more uses for the blueberry. For ten long years I've been wondering when the George Washington Carver of blueberries would come along and invent a DVD player made entirely of blueberries.

posted by Ace at 01:49 PM

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