Old Content:

Why Congress Needs a Reboot

February 7, 2009 by Kyle Brady
Tags: America, Bailout, Congress, Economy, Government, NASA, Obama, Science, Space
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I'm sure you've heard of all the in-fighting and bullshit that's been going on in the last week or so over in D.C.

But it gets better.

I don't personally agree with another huge check cut by the government to give people money, because this is something that will solve itself fairly quickly if people stop being stupid, but the whole process has truly frustrated me.

Take a look at what got "cut" from the bill, courtesty of CNN.

My first question is:  WHY ARE THOSE IN THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE?

Congress loves to add "pork" to bills, which has always annoyed me, and this seems to be no exception.  Even when they're crying about the cost of the bill, they add stuff to it.  This makes sense.  If I ever meet a Congressman, I'm going to, in a totally nonviolent way, slap him silly because what's more important?

1. "Fixing" America so we can continue as a great nation


2. Lining your own pockets and those of your supporting groups

I'm pretty sure it's #1, although many Congressional shinyheads may disagree.

My second question is:  If they cut ALL THIS, what ELSE is in there?

I'd like to know what percentage of "pork" got cut from the bill, and, probably more importantly, what's left.  Are we spending $100m to give NASCAR 10 years to improve fuel efficiency?  Or maybe $33m to give oil companies tax breaks?

Something tells me that what they cut was either "the lesser of two evils" or things that were too outlandish to pass anyways, for the most part (we'll get to the exceptions in a second).

My third question is: Excuse me, but I thought this was an economic stimulus package?

Maybe I'm misguided, but when I heard "economic stimulus package", I assumed that meant giving money to small businesses to smooth things over, sending checks out to individuals that pay taxes (like Bush's did), and helping to foster a new era of growth in what will be the next generation of "driving forces" for the economy.

But this is apparently not what Congress is concerned with.  They're concerned with giving money to organizations that probably already have it, tax breaks to those who needs it less than your average American, and a whole litany of more crap.

My fourth question is: Why did some of these get cut, you dumb motherfuckers?

In a time where space exploration and development is more crucial then ever, NASA gets budget cuts.  And when someone (God save the Queen!) adds some pork to this bill that actually might be useful, like giving NASA a "bonus" that would trickle down to it's contractors and subcontractors... it gets cut.

And the NASA earmark isn't the only one.  There's a few, so let me list them for you:

1. NASA


2. Broadband


3. NIST


4. Aeronautics


5. Exploration


6. Cross Agency Support


7. NSF


8. School Construction


9. Higher Education Construction

Don't those sound like things you'd like to have money sent to?  Put that list together and you end up with:

• more money for science and space, NASA included


• a government that works together slightly better


• money for a better education system, which in turn would generate "tomorrow's" American businesses


• broadband growth that not only creates better access, but would institute Net Neutrality clauses (not mentioned in CNN)

The total cost of those specific items cut comes to $22.15b.  Now that sounds like alot of money, but when you consider it would have been part of a $950b package, it comes to only 2% of the cost of the package.

Two percent that could have made a real difference in both the economy and America's waning intelligence in certain sectors of the country.

My fifth, and final question, is: What the hell?

What it really comes down to is whether or not this money is going to be spent ever so wisely as the bank bailout was (search Google for "banks, bailout, planes" or "banks, bailout, bonuses" for more details).  Because if this has all the intelligence that the bank bailout had, we're fucked as a country.

We can't afford to keep propping up failing industries and throwing money at those who already have it.  America is already massively in debt, and none of this is helping.  Like I said previously, I'm completely at odds with the idea of bailouts and stimulus packages, because people need to learn to fend for themselves [see "The End of Democracy" for why].

But if Congress is going to ignore the voices of those of us smart enough to know it's a bad idea, then they need to do it right.  Because we'll only have one chance at "fixing" this... if America hasn't turned around, with no more epic failures of industry, by the end of Obama's first term of office, we may never recover.

Something tells me America will cease to be a single, united, and unified country when the money runs out and the supplies run low.  There's already talk about fractures in the country.

Those can quickly become fault lines when the conditions are right.

Old Content posts are leftovers from a less structured, less civilzed era that are kept for posterity.
Kyle can be found on Twitter and MySpace, or reached via email.