Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby has put a “blanket hold” all of President Barack Obama judicial nominees (currently 70) until two Alabama earmarks – a $40 billion contract to build air-to-air refueling tankers and a $45 million explosive device testing center – are put back on track.
It personifies the hypocrisy of the GOP in Washington. They cannot argue for more fiscal responsibility while imposing extraordinary procedural tactics to get more pork spending sent their way. This is how congressional Republicans govern and Democrats should sound the alarms.
For starters, Sen. Harry Reid ought to call his bluff. Put a motion into play and force all 41 Republicans to go on the record. In order to break the stalemate the Democrats would need 60 votes.
Blake:
You’re alleged charge of hypocrisy with Senator Shelby is potentially misplaced.
First, the two items concern National Defense, which is obviously the main and first priority of the Federal Government under the U.S. Constitution. The hard question that needs to be asked is whether these two (2) projects genuinely serve a Vital National Purpose in helping our Nation protect itself from foreign threats. Or, are these projects in some way, just political payback, unneeded and unwanted by the military, and therefore wasteful and smell of pork? If the projects truly are a Vital National Purpose, then we have to put them somewhere in the country. If it is best that they be done in Alabama, then so be it. Or Vermont, or Oregon or wherever. But again, if the projects serve a Vital National Purpose to our National Defense, then let’s not delay any further and get them built. If that means that a “point” is made by shutting down other business in the Senate, then again, so be it, just so long as it gets us to where our Nation needs to be or, should already have been, in terms of National Defense and military preparedness.
Second, on their face, these appear to be serious projects which serve to bolster, as I said in the previous paragraph, the most important thing our Nation can do and that is to ensure we have a strong and vigilant National Defense to keep us free from foreign threats. Let’s just “drill down” a little further to see if these projects are truly needed. Contrast these projects, however, with REAL pork barrel, wasteful, unnecessary projects that spend and waste Federal Taxpayer dollars and in no legitimate way serve a Vital National Purpose (are not a Federal concern but instead are local concerns) like the following few examples of which there are gazillons that could be listed:
–spending $9 million dollars of Federal Taxpayers on the Big Dam Bridge. It’s nice and all, and perhaps it serves a Vital Arkansas Purpose or a Vital Pulaski County Purpose or a Vital Little Rock/North Little Rock Purpose, but it definitely does not pass the straight-face test when saying that it serves a Vital National Purpose.
–spending millions of Federal Taxpayer dollars on a second runway at Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport. Nice airport with one runway, but not enough traffic to justify spending millions on a second runway. Check out Lindbergh Field in San Diego, with it’s one runway, and the traffic it handles. When XNA gets to that capacity, then we’ll talk. Until then, make due with one runway. Lincoln AND Boozman both had a hand in that one.
–almost $200,000 given by the Dept. of Homeland Security to the Morning Star Volunteer Fire Dept. for training and equipment (and there were a slew of other fire depts. across Arkansas and the Nation that received similar money). Is there a terrorist threat that I missed in Morning Star? How many people from Maine, Nevada, New Mexico and New Hampshire are going to be served by the Morning Star, Arkansas Volunteer Fire Dept.? Come on, people, let’s handle this the way it’s always been handled and that is, if the Morning Star Volunteer Fire Dept. needs money for training and equipment, then they go to the people they serve locally and ask them for the money by putting a ballot issue in the next election asking for the money or go to Quorum Court and request the money. Bottom-line: let the people who are served by the Morning Star Volunteer Fire Dept. make the decisions about what they need! Quit looking to Washington, D.C. for everything.
–$20 million spent on a tunnel for turtles in Tallahassee, Florida. Again, it may be a Vital Florida Purpose, a Vital Tallahassee Purpose, a Vital Leon County, Florida Purpose, but this project is not a Vital National Purpose. Get the money you need from the people in this area, and if they won’t give it to you, then I guess it’s not all that important that some turtles occassionally get run over by cars!
Blake, if Senator Shelby was stopping judicial nominations of President Obama from going forward because he was trying to get funding for REAL and GENUINE pork barrel projects like the ones described above, then I would be in 100% agreement that there is hypocrisy from Senator Shebly and that he should be called to task. But any common sense-minded person, any rational-thinking person, any intellectually honest person can see the differences in Shelby’s projects and the other projects I described. Again, “drill down” and make sure Shelby’s projects meet the “test” laid out above, but if they do, then don’t call him hypocritical or chastize him for trying to honestly oversee on his watch, the legitimate primary role of the Federal Government: to keep America safe from her enemies.
FBL – I can understand the point about national security, but if the programs are so vital I don’t think the reasonable approach to government is to create a blanket hold on judicial nominees simply to get what you want. There are other ways to go about it. The only logical reason for Mr. Shelby to do this is because the projects aren’t vital. My view is that this personifies (a) GOP hypocrisy over earmarks and (b) GOP obstructionism. I fully recognize that you and I will not agree on these points.
Big shiny distraction!
No, FBL is just demonstrating further Republi-Con hypocrisy. They scream about process (“nasty earmarks”, etc.) when it concerns things they oppose, but ignore it when it concerns things they love. Big government is always bad for them, except when it comes to imprisoning people, torturing them, killing them, or blowing things up. In the name of “National Defense” or (sexual) morality anything goes. But if the issue is health care, the environment, or equal rights for women or minorities, etc., then it’s all about “the heavy hand of government”. If “holds” and earmarks are bad, then why do Republi-Cons love “holds” when Democrats are in the White House (Clinton and Obama), and why is it okay for Shelby to use holds to get earmarks? Funny how when they are in charge “holds” and filibusters are bad things (remember the “nuclear option”?). And the Republi-Cons screamed about “up or down votes” and majority rule, when they barely had 51 votes in the Senate, but now that they have only 41, when they were soundly rejected in the last election, suddenly “majority rules” goes out the window! Let’s call Shelby’s bluff and tell him he can have all the military earmarks he wants, BUT NONE OF IT GOES TO ALABAMA! Will he put “country first” and agree? Don’t hold your breath!
[...] released his “blanket hold” on all of President Barack Obama’s judicial nominees. If you recall, Mr. Shelby was upset that two pork projects that would benefit his home state had [...]