Obama never promised to eliminate earmarks!

[jenmito]

Certain Repubs. and pundits have been saying Obama went back on his promise to eliminate earmarks. It was MCCAIN who promised to eliminate earmarks. Obama promised earmark REFORM, yet the lie is being spread through the "liberal" MSM. Here's an article on the issue: http://ucsense.blogspot.com/2009/03/nbc-reporter-reminds-viewers-that-obama.html

[EFerrari]

1. Give the lady a cigar!

:hi:

[Xipe Totec]

2. Eliminating earmarks, that's exactly why I voted for him!

Oh, wait... :think:

No, it isn't!


I like earmarks; especially for my state!


Carry on!

:hi:

[jenmito]

8. Whew...

I wasn't sure where that was going. :D

[upi402]

3. Cool, but until the media is reigned in

fiction will be fact and Obama will be f***ed.
Anyway, somebody ALERT McCAIN!!!
lol

[jenmito]

9. That's why we all need to email and call the cable networks

and set them straight.

[mopinko]

18. we are the media, now.

don't underestimate the power that this forum has. we know they read us. we just need to keep rec'in' posts like this one up, up, up.

[jenmito]

19. I hope they WILL see this...

and thanks for helping it remain visible. :hi:

[indepat]

4. But, but, but Joe on CNBC's Squawk Box and money honey Maria both claimed the President promised

eliminate earmarks. Media hos distort, lie, prevaricate, obfuscate, misinform, dissemble and otherwise spew the garbage necessary to put a favorable RW spin on everything in further their nefarious fascist agenda. :P

[jenmito]

10. And they're not the only ones...

even though they ARE from the "financial" arm of NBC. We need to get the message to the MSM that they can't keep lying about Obama's positions.

[vaberella]

30. I feel like sending McCain a big YOU'RE A LIAR t-shirt. n/t

[jenmito]

32. If it's for him to wear it should say, "I'M A LIAR"!

:D

[vaberella]

45. Yeah, what you said!! n/t

[jody]

5. OK, I'll settle for "Obama promised to . . . cut wasteful spending." Enough already, just do it!

ON EDIT ADD:
President-elect Barack Obama vowed Tuesday to do what most presidents before him have tried: cut wasteful spending.

[jenmito]

11. And his massive stimulus package that passed had no earmarks...

which hardly gets mentioned.

[jody]

15. IMO pork barrel earmarks are wasteful spending, a conclusion with which you apparently disagree. n/t

[jenmito]

17. The first stimulus package supposedly had no earmarks. The earmarks were in the budget

just passed which was written last year. Obama said he will make sure all earmarks are shown online with the author's name attached to it. Some earmarks are necessary, some are not.

[jody]

20. The OP said "Obama never promised to eliminate earmarks!" but he did promise to stop wasteful

spending. :shrug:

[jenmito]

21. That's right. Every earmark is NOT "wasteful spending."

:shrug:

[jody]

22. Spin and apologize but I expect Obama to carry through on his promise to stop wasteful spending. Bye

[jenmito]

23. Blame him for keeping his word. Maybe you should've voted for McCain whom you agree with.

Bye. :eyes:

[asphalt.jungle]

24. big difference between cut and stop

cut means to reduce, stop means eliminate entirely. my savings account recently got a rate cut, i'm still earning interest, just less than i was before.

[jenmito]

25. Thank you for pointing that out. The article she quoted said "cut" and then she said "stop."

There IS a difference. She just did the same thing the RW media has been doing.

[geek tragedy]

27. How do you define 'pork?'

Lots of this stuff is actually quite valuable and not wasteful.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

54. What part of the budget do you consider wasteful spending?

And not signing the budget would have shut down the government, which in itself is wasteful spending.

[ColesCountyDem]

6. K & R !

Factual posts like this one are what we must use to combat the MSM's lies.

[jenmito]

12. Thanks!

I hope people email and/or call the cable news channels to set the record straight! :hi:

[tbyg52]

7. And I never wanted him to.

I just want to make sure they are not slipped in at the last minute and that individuals are held accountable for them (good or bad).

[jenmito]

13. He said he will have all earmarks put online with the names of the people

attached to them.

[tbyg52]

14. Yep. And that is exactly what I want. nt

[jenmito]

16. That's exactly what you'll get. n/t

[jenmito]

26. kick

[flyarm]

28. Obama's promise to go after earmarks 'line by line'

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2009/mar/03/obamas-promise-go-after-earmarks-line-line/

Obama's promise to go after earmarks 'line by line'
By Bill Adair
Published on Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009 at 3:49 p.m.

snip:

During the presidential campaign, earmark reform was a major theme for John McCain, who often highlighted projects of other candidates that he considered wasteful. During the first presidential debate on Sept. 26, 2008, Barack Obama said he had stopped requesting earmarks as a senator and that he shared McCain's desire for earmark reform and the elimination of wasteful projects.

McCain noted that Obama had made $932 million in earmark requests during his first three years as a senator and he criticized Obama for saying earmarks accounted for "only $18 billion" in federal spending.

Obama replied, "John, nobody is denying that $18 billion is important. And, absolutely, we need earmark reform . And when I'm president, I will go line by line to make sure that we are not spending money unwisely."

In his first six weeks as president, Obama has faced two huge spending bills that each gave him a major opportunity to demonstrate that "line by line" approach on earmarks. But there were two very different outcomes. To find the details of why we rated this one a Compromise, click here.

[jenmito]

31. He didn't promise to eliminate them. The media is saying he did.

And your examples showed the stimulus bill to be nearly earmark free and the omnibus bill, from last year, NOT to be.

[flyarm]

34. did he go line by line on the bills he just passed giving shitloads of our money

in earmarks???????????

no

in fact he probably never read them like congress didn't!

[jenmito]

35. The first one was almost earmark FREE. The second one was not his bill-

when it was done he was a Senator. He said he's just going to sign it and from now on he will reform the way earmarks are used.

[flyarm]

39. he is pres..he has a dem congress..he signed it..it is now his bill

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/politics/jan-june09/spendingbill_03-11.html



snip:

The 1,132-page bill contains 7,991 earmarks totaling $5.5 billion, according to calculations by the Republican staff of the House Appropriations Committee, the AP reported.

Those earmarks include, for example, $485,000 for a boarding school for at-risk native students in Alaska and $1.2 million for the nonprofit Helen Keller International to provide eyeglasses to needy students, according to the AP.

[flyarm]

40. $400 billion supplemental spending bill, larded as it was with 9,000 earmarks.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/188565


snip:

The president gave up the moral high ground on spending not so much with the "stim" but with the $400 billion supplemental spending bill, larded as it was with 9,000 earmarks.

[jenmito]

41. You sound like a Repub.

using all the Repub. talking points. He explained that the omnibus bill was NOT the bill HE would've drafted but it was drafted up last year and he's going to sign it.

[flyarm]

44. i sound like an American that gives a damn that my kids and grand kids will be strapped with bills

they will never be able to get out from under..

oh and psssssssssss..I am a former elected ( by the people of my state ) Dem Delegate for my state..I have worked for many dem candidates to help them get elected..your assumptions suck..don't they??...to bad you don't give a damn where our money is being pissed away at.

9,000 earmarks..ahh shucks, according to you that doesn't matter very much..paid taxes very long have you???? yeah right.

My guess is you missed all the anger here about the bridge to nowhere..didn't you??( I think if you can make assumptions , I can as well!)

9,000 earmarks think about it...think hard and enjoy paying for them..because you will ..someone has to eventually!!

[jenmito]

49. Not all Americans are informed. And if you listened to Obama and his surrogates

you'd know that the omnibus bill he signed was the only one that will have all those earmarks. Again-the stimulus bill had almost NO earmarks. All earmarks are not created equal. Some are good and necessary, unlike the bridge to nowhere.

[vaberella]

37. You're not getting the language correctly.

He said, "I will go line by line to make sure that we are not spending money unwisely."

Some earmarks can be spent wisely. Take for instance the TARP that was passed there was crap in their for boy scouts bows and arrows. I think that could hold off in an emergency. However, getting overhead projectors for schools in need would not be wasteful and could be seen as long term investments.

President Obama clearly said the day before the business round-table some earmarks are functional and can be an important investment for the state. He's making sure the ones that are wasteful and not really important are taken out.

This is the point. He's reforming it by making sure it's transparent and that people in each State knows which Senators are asking for it, why, and to be aware of where it's going to mark the difference. So then it forces the State and Senator or whoever is asking for earmarks to be held accountable and take responsibility.

Click on the video:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2009/03/11/obama_defends_earmarks_there_are_times_where_they_may_be_good.html

I think people need to know the definition of earmarks: President Obama states it is project investments that State officers can put in a bill.

Some project investments are crap as I stated and President Obama implied, some are fine.

[vaberella]

29. Can we all send this little note to all the idiots on MSM and DU you

like to think Obama is out to get them and is a walking liar.

[Cha]

33. Thanks,

jenmito..Rec'd~

[jenmito]

36. Thanks, Cha.

:hi:

[madrchsod]

38. well duh...no one is going to eliminate earmarks

why would we elect people to represent us if they can not help our districts or states?

[jenmito]

42. The point is MCCAIN, not Obama, said he'd eliminate earmarks...

whether it's realistic or not, McCain said it-not Obama.

[Better Believe It]

43. We need about 200 billion for useful public works earmarks!

[Kablooie]

46. What's wrong with earmarks? ...

[jenmito]

50. It's not the earmark...

it's the hair around it. :D

[iamthebandfanman]

47. "earmarks" just another case of republicans bastardizing

something that they dont even understand the meaning of.

there are actually such things as good 'earmarks' , you know.. providing things to the folks back home who voted ya into office(not corporate interests)...

[jenmito]

51. I know...

and so does Obama which is why he didn't SAY he'd eliminate earmarks. The few people on this thread seem to have bought the Repub. talking points about them.

[marshall]

48. Most people don't understand nuance

They just hear what they want to hear.

[jenmito]

52. OR they're purposely misrepresenting Obama's position. n/t

[Cha]

53. As always 'cause they

can.