The headline in USA Today, March 24, reads "$4 BILLION IN PET PROJECTS LEFT INTACT." Included in the pork is $24 million for rural transportation in our own Pitkin County. Never heard of Pitkin? It is right in the center of the Colorado Rockies and it isn't on the way to anywhere. It doesn't have to be. The county seat is Aspen, home of movie stars and playground for the super wealthy. The people of Aspen want new buses. They want new buses with wi-fi, and they want American taxpayers to pay for them. Last week Scott Tipton got on board. Faced with the dilemma of standing by campaign promises to cut pork, or putting the first ornament on his very own "reelect me Christmas tree," he opted to join Democrat senators Udall and Bennett and go for the buses. He did object to wi-fi. Have to cut costs you know. While campaigning, Tipton wanted to cut the government by 50% . Now he draws the line at wi-fi on buses in Aspen. Times do change.
Seems strange doesn't it, but Pitkin County, the wealthiest county in Colorado, and fourth richest in the entire US, with an average per-capita income of $60,000.00 will get buses paid for by taxpayers from places like Conejos and Costilla Counties with average per-capita incomes of $24,495.00 and $19,531.00. Well, it makes more sense if you take Aspen's Zip Code and run it through www.campaignmoney.com. You discover that in 2008, residents of Aspen donated over $300,000.00 to GOP candidates, and in 2010 donated over $118,000 to Republican campaigns. Obviously, new buses for Aspen are an important ornament to put on any politician's tree. The buses are far too important to be put off by the fact that we don't have money to pay for them, or any of the other $4 billion in pork. So congress will borrow the money from our friends the Chinese. If past statistics hold true, 90% of them will get reelected, over and over, you and I will pay the piper, and the party never ends.
As far as I am concerned, Aspen can buy its own buses whether Mark, Mike or Scott gets reelected or not. Tipton, by the way, is considered by Colorado Dems to be the "#1 Takeout
Opportunity" http://coloradopols.com/diary/15393/scott-tipton-giveth-and-taketh-away Having been rated at 81% by the Heritage Foundation (for his "committment" to cutting spending), having voted for an extension of Obamacare for veteranarians, and still "undecided" about whether to raise the debt ceiling, Tipton has lost sight of all the conservative campaign rhetoric. If he doesn't get his act together soon, he may well be a one-term representative. The Dems obviously smell weakness.
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Bruce DuFresne
About Me
- Bob McConnell
- Steamboat Springs, CO, United States
- I'm a conservative Republican who ran for Congress in Colorado's Third Congressional District in 2010. Though I lost the primary I gained an amazing insight into how politics works, and I met hundreds of wonderful, concerned citizens. Let's stay engaged in the mission. Write to me at beawatchman@aol.com, and keep the faith.
The saddest part of the pork projects is that those who NEED them won't get them while those who could readily afford to support their own "PORK" with donations from their FAT budgets will get them because they spend the most on lobbyists. More often than not, the money they spend on lobbyists will be used as a tax deduction, too.
ReplyDeleteBob, we just never learned to appreciate abusing the system!
Well, another way to look at the bright side of the situation is because Aspen is worldwide destination for tourists world wide, that by making the area more desirable, tourists will contribute more to the regional economy. This will likely include some depressed areas such as these mentioned by Bob.
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