"Reeling In" Our Tax Dollars
It’s good to live in the Congressional district of the most powerful member of the U.S. House of Representatives. According to CBS News last Friday:
“For the second year in a row, hard-hit fishermen and businesses will get cold, hard cash to make up for their losses.
“But it's not just to put food on the table and keep a roof overhead - this may be among the most generous aid packages ever to come from Congress. And you're paying for it.”
Salmon fishing has come on such hard times that the government has declared it a “disaster.” The lost salmon totals $22 million while other economic effects are estimated at $82 million. But enter the chief panjandrum of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi (D). CBS News reports:
“But taxpayers are being forced to shell out $174 million. That's on top of $60 million given out last year.
“The salmon bail-out is so huge, it might not have survived debate in Congress. But it didn't have to, thanks to California's own Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi. She used her clout as Speaker of the House to insert the massive salmon relief into the Farm Bill as an earmark without a vote.
“But what's really flipping out critics ... is how it works: Fishermen and business owners get to pick their "best" year, from 2002 to 2005, when they made the most money off salmon, and they get a check for that entire amount.”
But to really get you blood moving, look at the video, which accompanies the CBS story to see the smarmy look of Rep. Pelosi’s colleague, Mike Thompson, in this little caper of taxpayer thievery, as he justifies the need for the “emergency” aid.