We live in interesting times. Unusual times. The rich get richer, the poor poorer. The government directly or indirectly assists the rich to the detriment of the poor. There is no middle class. Only the 1 per cent and 99 per cent.
The U.S. Census Bureau issued a recent study regarding median household incomes. The bottom line was that median household incomes have fallen five years in a row. Approximately $5,000.
The Republican controlled House of Representatives passed a bill recently cutting food stamps by $40 billion over a ten year period. It amounts to $3.8 billion a year. The bill was passed without a public hearing by any Congressional committee.
To add insult to injury, the bill provided that food stamp recipients be tested for drugs.
With fewer people employed and salaries significantly less, food stamps are a staple in many households. One sixth of the population receives food stamps.
47.5 million. Interestingly, that number has increased by 13 million in the five years Obama has been in office.
In addition, free breakfasts for children are on the way out. Republicans cry for cuts in areas affecting the elderly. Social Security and Medicare. They also want to do away with Obamacare.
While Congress is trying or actually cutting back on much needed benefits and assistance to the people they represent, there are tons of waste for which they are directly responsible. If Congress were to pursue in the first instance governmental waste, there would be less need to economically break the backs of the poor.
Examples of governmental waste follow. I guarantee you will laugh at some. Never the less, you will be disturbed by all.
Every facet of government is a sinner. Democrats, Republicans, Tea Party members, Congressmen, Senators, and bureaucrats alike. They all bear responsibility, one way or another.
Senator Frank Lautenberg recently died. He represented New Jersey as a Democrat for many years. A liberal. He died a millionaire. He left an estate of $56.8 million.
On a recent spending bill, $174,000 was tacked on as a rider. The amount is roughly equal to one year's salary as a Senator. There was no hearing. I even question whether there ever was proper approval obtained from the House of Representatives for the payment in this instance or any in the past.
The $174,000 was in effect a death benefit paid to a Senate member's widow. It was justified as a time honored practice. Note that $174,000 was appropriated to a millionaire widow at the same time that food stamps were being cut by the House of Representatives $40 billion.
House and Senate members receive free medical. The best. While the Republican members of both Houses want to do away with medical care to 30 million people who previously had none.
Lets move on to banks. The Huffington Post came out recently with an interesting and shocking report.
Huffington claims the biggest banks in the U.S. receive 3 per cent of every tax dollar. It amounts to $722 per family. The monies are viewed as a subsidy. They are not TARP dollars.
The 3 per cent totals $83 billion a year that the banks are receiving.
The subsidy applies to the 10 largest banks. The banks are able to borrow money from creditors at lower rates than small banks and people. The reason is that by legislation the government guarantees the bank loans. If the banks fail to pay, the government will with tax dollars.
The system is simple. The banks borrow at a low rate of interest and loan the monies out at a higher rate of interest. The dollars in between are pure profit.
What bugs me is the claim that without this taxpayer subsidy, none of the top ten banks would be profitable. Wow! Which means if you carry the thought to its logical end, the $20 billion and $40 billion bonus's bank CEOs have been receiving come from the profit the banks make because of taxpayer guarantees.
While all this has been going on, the banks are not lending as they should to Main Street America.
Pigs.
This next example is a beauty.
The U.S. Senate has its own barber shop. Funded by the taxpayers. It is called Senate Hair Care Services. Until 1979 haircuts were free. Then because of the Carter recession, a charge of $3.50 for a haircut was initiated. Manicures would cost $18.
The head barber receives a salary of $80,000 a year. Six others, $40,000 a year.
The barber shop runs at a deficit of $500,000 a year. Taxpayer dollars pay the deficit.
I am not enamored with the Heritage Foundation. I sometimes think the organization is the true Speaker of the House of Representatives. However credit must be given where credit is due. The Heritage Foundation has revealed certain governmental waste items.
$2.6 million was paid for a study by Wayne State University. The purpose of the study was to determine how to train Chinese prostitutes to drink more responsibly. The claim was it might help with keeping Aids down in China.
Credit card abuse is rampant in federal agencies. An example is a $13,500 charge for one dinner by the U. S. Postal Service. The same organization that at this very moment is in deep trouble economically. The cost of a stamp could go up as much as a nickel. Saturday deliveries may be curtailed. Home deliveries stopped.
There were 187 guests at the dinner. It was at a Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Over 200 appetizers, more than $3,000 in alcohol. At the same time that food stamps were under consideration to be cut, as well as breakfasts for poor children.
Historically, the Pentagon has been famous for spending abnormal and unreasonable amounts for items. I recall when I was in college in the 1950s there was some sort of expose because the Pentagon was paying $400 for one toilet seat.
The Pentagon did not buy anything this time. What they did was ship parts at exorbitant cost. The parts were simple washers. Two $ .19 washers were shipped from South Carolina to Texas at a cost of $998,798. An $ .89 washer was shipped from South Carolina to Florida at a cost of $293,451.
Many federal employees do not like flying coach. Neither do I. But, I do. Even to Europe. I am paying my own bill. The government is not paying for me.
Federal employees spend $146 million dollars annually for upgrades. Only half are authorized. None should be and every employee should fly like most taxpayers do. Coach.
The House of Representatives authorizes money to be spent. Congress recently gave Alaska Airlines $500,000 to paint a Chinook salmon on a Boeing 737.
The Defense Department gets the biggest share of the American budget. There were $100 million worth of unused flight tickets purchased at Department of Defense expense. All were refundable. None were refunded.
Senator Tom Coburn is a Republican from Oklahoma. I do not always agree with him. He is a penny pincher and a penny watcher. He is much like Ben Franklin in that regard.
Senator Coburn recently came up with two bad CCongressional approved spending items. One was $505,000 to promote specialty hair and beauty products for cats and dogs. The other $97,000 for floating outhouses for Oregon fishermen.
The Democrats and Republicans have their party conventions every four years. A big deal! Who pays for it? The taxpayers. You and I. The cost is $100 million paid to each party.
IHop makes money. Their pancake outlets do a good business. IHOP puts out a quality product at a decent price. The company is successful. Such being the case, it is difficult to understand why a grant was given to HOP of $800,000 to subsidize the building of a I HOP in Columbia Heights, one of Washington, D.C.'s trendiest and most desirable neighborhoods.
The elevators on Capitol Hill that our Representatives and Senators use every day are fully automated. Yet the government spends an additional $440,000 a year for attendants to push the buttons.
In recent years, Congress has authorized tons of money to build new court houses. Most not needed. Since 2000, millions of square feet of wasted unused courthouse space exists all over the United States. Forget the waste in construction dollars for the unneeded facilities, it costs $57 million a year to maintain the unused space.
The National Institute of Health is an Agency of the U.S. Department of Health. In 2011, the National Institute of Health authorized a study by Ohio State University at a cost of $386,000. The purpose of the study was to determine what was the best massage duration when massaging rabbits.
Sarah Palin is not one of my favorite people. However, she came out with an on point statement when she recently said, "If the government shuts down, who will spy on me?"
There are so many more examples of misappropriation and wastefulness by Washington. I suggest our elected representatives first look within themselves when cutting. Cutting important items such as food stamps, breakfasts for children, Obamacare, and considering cutting Social Security and Medicare.
What did the poor, the young, the sick and the elderly do to receive the treatment that they are? I do not understand. It is the big guys picking on the little guys. Bullies kicking those that cannot effectively protect themselves.
My admonition: Pick a fight with some one your own size! See what it is like to get kicked in the ass.
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