Bilbray submits $26 million earmark for Predator drones

[cal04]

Maker of the planes has contributed more than $50K to congressman
http://nctimes.com/articles/2009/03/21/news/sandiego/z1b32503286491a078825757d00780876.txt

Rep. Brian Bilbray is asking Congress to approve a special funding request known as an earmark and spend $26 million to buy two Predator unmanned airplanes for the military.

The earmark request is raising eyebrows for two reasons: It bypasses the normal process for Pentagon spending, and the company that builds the planes has given Bilbray thousands of dollars in political contributions.

The Solana Beach Republican recently announced the request on his Web site, along with another request for $6 million to upgrade an imaging system to help the California National Guard track natural disasters, such as wildfires.

(snip)
The company was Bilbray's top donor in the 2007-08 funding cycle, donating $17,150 to his coffers, according to OpenSecrets.org, a Washington watchdog group that tracks campaign contributions.

(snip)
A spokesman for the Washington watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense said the request is an example of the type of earmark that raises concerns about the process and a culture of "pay to play."

"Certainly, the Department of Defense is interested in making sure that the needs of our men and women in uniform have everything they need," said Steve Ellis, the group's vice president. "If a lawmaker was advocating for something that wasn't constructed in their district, and wasn't built by a significant campaign contributor, it would have a lot more credibility on its face."

[Aloha Spirit]

1. Please please please let him be Republican please!

Thank you!

That's what I think whenever these stories pop up lol.
Then I check the internet.
Sometimes I win teh google, sometimes I lose.

The whole, military spending is a good economic stimulus because it creates jobs thing, that's a clear giveaway that you're dealing with a silly Republican.

[HillbillyBob]

3. Yet another f ing reason to end the cycle of campaign bribes

And like we need to give the so called defence department any more freakin money.

[HuMac]

2. Bilbray ain't worth a damn, but

he really is an improvement over the fellow he replaced.