Obey says "so what" to Porkulus waste
David Obey (D-WI), chairman of House Appropriations, doesn't have much of a concern about the amount of waste in the Porkulus:
U.S. Rep. David Obey (D-WI), the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, helped write the bill and says he doesn't like being asked about earmarks.Obey's already blame shifting. Even the CBO says this bill is bad for the country in the long run."We simply made a decision, which took about three seconds, not to have earmarks in the bill," he says. "And with all due respect, that's the least important question facing us on putting together this package."
Leaving out the earmarks does mean Congress will have less control over how the money is spent. But, Obey says, "So what? This is an emergency. We've got to simply find a way to get this done as fast as possible and as well as possible, and that's what we're doing."
That doesn't mean Congress will be responsible if the money is spent badly, he says.
"The person who spends the money badly will be responsible. We are simply trying to build as many protections in as possible," Obey says. "We have more oversight built into this package than any package in the history of man. If money is spent badly, we want to know about it so we can hold accountable the people who made that choice. And guess what? Regardless of what we do, there will be some stupid decisions made."
The Senate votes this economic abortion on Monday, but negotiators will have to iron out final details in conference and that could be problematic.



Comments
Mr. Obey said something here that will come back to haunt them. He said so what.
Well he better care because they are breaking our nation.
Posted by: The Doctor | February 8, 2009 12:01 AM