McCain had a chance to impress but simply confounded me

Now, although I dont see McCain as a Maverick at all, I see him as a party guy who flip flops a bit when he thinks it will endear him to the people he is talking to, everyone does that, and his own admission that he has supported Bush policy doesn't help endear him at all...Or his statement that the economy is strong. I can forgive him these things to be honest...For some reason, one problem I got from McCain from the debates...something that kinda shows that he is a bit lost and doesn't get it. I think it was in the second debate....

McCain was saying things that I like to hear as a fiscal conservative...saying he wanted to dismantle a lot of government spending. Now I assume he meant wasteful spending...I see a real difference between spending and wasteful spending.

The man could not have picked a worse example, at least in my opinion, to cite as something he would look to cut. How many people here could probably make a long list of government waste...by waste I mean things the government spends money on that is paramount to throwing it away.

What does he cite as an example? Senatorial discretionary funds? Aid to foreign nations who do not support us on the global stage? paying bankers to and business to fail? Paying some guy in new york who happens to own some land farm subsides? no...he chooses a planetarium projector that costs 2 million dollars. This is a guy who just voted to pay failed bank CEOs billions with no salary cap for...failing...and he is going to point out a 2 million dollar high end planetarium projector that will help children learn?

Could he not have thought of a single other appropriation that would strike people as government waste that was a bit better than a projector for teaching children and adult about space, the planets, etc? With the amount of money he signed over to the banks he could have bought a projector for every city...for the amount we dump into Iraq each month alone (more than they can even spend...they have a surplus, we have trillions is debt) we could pay for that and made it free for all for ever.

Now I am not a socialist but we all know that there are socialist aspects to our republic. We have welfare (limited under Clinton to 2 years I believe), we have medical aid, we have government programs to help educate the people and make them more productive Americans, farm subsidies, etc......these things I do not object to much and I feel if REAL government out of control (and I do mean out of control as bad as it gets) spending were to be curbed....then there would be enough money to buy a projector for a planetarium to HELP AMERICANS. We need to start helping Americans and stop trying to save the world....

 

How do you know it wasn't wasteful spending? Maybe the one they had was good enough? Maybe a cheaper model was available? Maybe there was another way to pay for it?

 

I do believe that he said he would take a axe to all public spending across the board, and have a spending freeze, what exactly would that do to the American Millitery I wonder?

 

Do you mean "military"?

 

So I suffer from dyxlexia is that a problem with you as well?

 

McCain was referring to a spending request for the 2008 budget. And, indeed, the Web site of Obama’s Senate office shows Obama asked for $3-million for the Adler Planetarium. According to Obama’s office, the equipment had begun to fail and deprived people of a learning experience.
“The projection equipment in this theater is 40 years old, and is no longer supported with parts or service by the manufacturer,” his office said in a June 21, 2007, announcement.

McCain refers to the item as an "overhead projector," conjuring images of those little projectors on carts in public school libraries all over America, but calling this piece of equipment an overhead projector is like calling the space shuttle a bottle rocket. The projector at Adler that would be replaced is 2½ tons, 18 feet in diameter and elevates from 12 to 20 feet. It's used to display 7,000 stars and planets that are visible, said Mark Webb, director of theaters at Adler. It has motors and gears.

“The characterization of it as an overhead projector is not very accurate,” said Webb, who has been at the planetarium more than 25 years.
While the museum has not settled on a specific replacement, the $3-million would help cover most of the cost of a new system of projectors. It will be computerized with light sources that would display all the visible stars plus the deep space stars and planets. It would have hard drives and software to transfer megabytes of data, he said. The projector system is part of a $10-million theater upgrade at Adler, the first U.S. location with a planetarium.

from politifact.com

 

Does Sea World need a new Shamoo Tank?

Yeah it's a poor example of where to start cutting waste. Neither party is fiscally conservative. They both wallow in it like pigs. But it is not like this is a free planetarium where parents can just take their kids.

 

yeah, to be honest, compared to a lot of the waste I would rather buy shamoo a new tank They DO give free days and have educational events and the like but you are right, its not free in general...bet it could be made free with just a fraction of 700 billion dollars!! But my point is, at least this serves a purpose for americans, its education in a real good way and its the oldest planetarium in the western hemisphere and its the first time in something like 75 years of operation that it has needed a new projector...I find it hard to object to someone trying to get help funding it when there are so many other things we throw so much more money away on that doesnt serve the common good....like private airports and airstrips for senators who cant be bothered to use one a bit further away from home or money to make improvements on an old golf course that a senator happens to play at (its old, a landmark, and a private course)....stuff like that.

 

Oh by far, at last if it is 'waste', it is useful waste.

There are much more things that could be looked at I am sure. There were a bunch of things just in the $700 billion dollar bill that were much more wasteful. Just bribes to get votes.

 

Good ol'e pork. Pork greases the rinds of politicians votes.

 

Let's just cut to the chase shall we?

Adler=Chicago. Obama=Chicago. Chicago bad.

If the Adler Planetarium were in, oh let's say, Juneau, Alaska would he have mentioned it?

I HIGHLY doubt it.

 

If it were in Arizona it would be a national treasure!!

 

So......is it pork or isn't it?

 

If this is the definition of Pork:

appropriations, appointments, etc., made by the government for political reasons rather than for public benefit, as for public buildings or river improvements.

Then I would say no, its for public benefit...though I am sure Obama asked for the money to please his constituents so it probably is also what might be thought of as pork....of course thats part of any representatives job to please his or her constituents...in the end it matters what the money is for, if it is a good cause...I know...here I go not thinking in absolutes and black and white

In the end, if thats the worst example of 'pork' he could cite, probably would have been better to just not mention it...

 

So there's "bad pork" and "okay pork"?
If he shouldn't have mentioned this pork, what is the rule as to when pork is okay to seak out against? What's the cut-off?

 

Well, there are certainly stupider things that he could have pointed out...

Like a 100 million dollar tax break for race track owners. Oh wait, that was in the bailout bill everyone voted for.

 

like the definition says...when it is beneficial for the common good and not just money garnered for political reasons...building an airstrip close to a senators home so he doesn't have to drive a lot doesn't fit this...a planetarium projector used to teach people might be a good example of appropriated money that is going to something that is, in general, beneficial (or at least I would rather see that then 4 more year of paying Iraq 12 billion a month).

I am sure he was trying to score points by helping a land mark but in the end, I see helping a planetarium is not so objectionable to me compared to where a lot of the extremely wasteful spending goes. I would say its a common sense thing but alas, its true, people cannot be counted on the exercise common sense.