Thread: Call for Help: Rep Kanjo Phone Town Hall

I am going t be involved in a live over-the-phone town hall conference this evening regarding the stimulus. I was invited by Rep Paul Kanjorski (Lou Barletta's opponent this past election).

I admit that I have not been paying all that much attention to the details of the pork bill since it passed against our wishes.

Anyone willing to help, can I get a basic overview of the bill with some of the major problems with it?

Also, any advice on exactly what I should say? (besides the fact that enforcing immigration laws would fix a large part of the economy issues)!

Thanks in advance for the help!

[b] Here's some from emails I saved:

The result was that lawmakers claimed billions in federal funds for pet projects — a total of 8,570 earmarks at a cost of $7.7 billion, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense.

Among the earmarks was one sponsored by Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., who secured $200,000 for a "tattoo removal violence outreach program" in Los Angeles.

Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., said the bill included at least a dozen earmarks for clients of PMA Group, a lobbying company now at the center of a federal corruption investigation.
"It's simply not responsible to allow a soon-to-be-criminally indicted lobbying firm to win funding, all borrowed, in this bill," he said. No charges have been filed against the firm or its principals, although the company's offices were raided earlier this month, and it has announced plans to disband by the end of the month.
Federal prosecutors are investigating PMA Group's founder and president, Paul Magliochetti, who is a former top aide to Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that funds defense programs.

Democrats also inserted a provision into the bill to end a program that allows students in the District of Columbia to use federal funds to attend private schools of their choice. Boehner, who helped establish the program as part of a political bargain several years ago, called the move "hideous."

In the congressional report that accompanies the budget legislation, Obama is listed as a sponsor of a $7.7 million earmark for “Tribally Controlled Postsecondary Vocational Institutions.â€

Taxpayers for Common Sense reported that the number of earmarks was slightly lower than in 2008, but that the new total does not reflect undisclosed earmarks buried in the bill. The report found $190,000 for a collection update at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyo.; $143,000 for the Las Vegas Natural History Museum to expand natural history education; and $238,000 for the Polynesian Voyaging Society in Honolulu, among other projects.


$713,625 Woody Biomass at SUNY-ESF. Walsh and Schumer sponsors

$951,500 Sustainable Las Vegas. Berkeley and Reid sponsors.

$24,000 A+ for Abstinence. Specter is sponsor.

$300,000 Montana World Trade Center. Rehberg sponsor.

$950,000 Myrtle Beach International Trade and Convention Center. Graham sponsor.

$200,000 Oil Region Alliance. Peterson sponsor.

$190,000 Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, WY for digitizing and editing the Cody collection. Barbara Cubin is the sponsor

$143,000 Las Vegas Natural History Museum, Las Vegas, NV, to expand natural history education programs. Sponsored by Harry Reid

$238,000 for the Polynesian Voyaging Society, Honolulu, HI, for educational programs. Sen. Daniel Inouye is the sponsor.

$381,000 for Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York, NY for music education programs. Jerrold Nadler is the sponsor.

Good stuff! Thanks.

Keep it coming.

Please help save these states!

http://www.alipac.us/ftopicp-858102.html#858102