About That Obama Pork Request McCain Keeps Talking About...

I cannot believe that most of you missed the point of John McCain's statement about Obama's earmarks! Obama had almost $1 BILLION in earmarks in a little over 3 years in the Senate. The American economy cannot continue to spend taxpayer's money like this - regardless on what the money is used for. Count up all the Senators and Congressman and if they all did this, we would be in a never ending deficit. Why don't we concentrate on paying off the debt, funding the necessary programs - health care, social security, medicare, education, energy, etc.- instead of each elected official paying off his campaign contributors. (Check the records of earmarks against contributors.)McCain keeps trying to cut spending and, just for the record, McCain has not requested ANY earmarks in the entire 26 years of his career in Congress.

Brooklyn, you don't vote for earmarks. Thats the problem with them. They skip the appropriation process. So in the end he voted for the bill (notice he's never claimed otherwise) that contained the earmarks and higlights the bear study as wasteful. Its not as if McCain got a second chance to vote specifically against it, like Biden and Obama did with the bridge to nowhere.
But a 50k bribe can turn into a 10 million earmark which can be needed to pass 500 billion in spending. Thats the problems with earmarks.

"overhead projector"

as if this planetarium is using PowerPoint to produce its theater-sized shows.

What a crock.

Grumpy old man doesn't want kids to see stars at planetarium. Of course, they can't see them in the sky due to pollution. Doesn't believe in funding No Child Left Behind either. Education, children? Bah, humbug! Give that money to big business for golden parachutes! Now there's a beautiful sight for our kids.

Why should someone in California fund a planetarium in Chicago that they'll never use? Presumably so that someone in Chicago can fund something in California that they'll never use. How about if we each just take care of our own backyards and stay out of our neighbors'. I think that might especially appeal to the poor taxpaying sucker in the middle of South Dakota who's paying for both pork barrel projects which he'll never use or see reciprocal taxpayer dollars from.

You can eliminate earmarks completely and only be dealing with a little over one percent of the entire budget. FYI - Olberman revealed the other night that McCain had, in fact, voted for the Grizzly Bear DNA study that he mocked and derided during the last debate.

What was more interesting about last night was that no one brought up McCain's plan to reduce Medicare by $1.3 trillion. According to his Chief Economic Advisor, the savings are to come from eliminating waste (in one of the government's more efficiently run programs) and raising age limits. This will be a big hit in Florida.

JB--

My point was simply in response to someone who complained about folks from George having to pay for something in Chicago, that Georgia also gets this kind of funding (I threw in OH because the writer identified him or herself as being from Ohio). Of course, one could look for bigger funding requests from other states.

But also consider that the Adler planetarium is a major--nationally and internationally know--museum. The museums I listed were relatively obscure (sorry to the folks who work and promote those museums). So a true comparison would have to be per capita, money spent relative to people served. I suspect the Adler Planetarium would come out well in such a comparison.

Finally, as a number of comments have pointed out, money spent can also be an investment. Yes, we need to keep to a budget, but we also need to invest wisely.

I still remember going to the planetarium as a gradeschooler. Many of the students who live in a city do not have the money to travel outside the city to see a proper night sky at all.

3 million is a lot, but an appreciation for the planet and the universe it inhabits for the youth of a city is priceless.

musing on museums- add all of the money you posted that was designated to four separate museums and you still only come up to a little over 1,042,000. Compared to 3 million for one Chicago museum. If you can't see something wrong with that, I guess there's not much more I can say to convince you.

As for it being for educational purposes. Yes, planetariums can be exciting and inspiring for children, but in times of economic crisis (which Sen. Obama insists he foresaw years ago) there are sacrifices that need to be made on extravagances.

That's my biggest problem with government today. In our households across the country, we have to live within our means or suffer for lack of fiscal responsibility and proper prioritization. That's a lesson government needs to learn. Will all earmarks go by the wayside? Of course not. But they do need to be transparent and they do need to be prioritized based on need and our ability to fund them.

McCain needed to go further. The 3 million for the Adler planetarium was after they raised $250,000 for his presidential campaign. Frank Clark, the chariman of the board of trustees is listed as having raised more then $200k on Obama's website.

You would think a reporter would look into such a matter more if it piqued their interest. But then again Jake stopped being a reporter a long time ago.

Just checked further into this. This funding request was made by Obama in association with a bipartisan group from Illinois. It has NOT been funded. Jake, please report this properly.

The point here is that Obama has made REQUESTS public, which is a level of transparency almost NO other senators offer. Again, this is a worthy fuding request that HAS NOT BEEN FUNDED! The point of putting the REQUEST to the public is to allow accountability and transparency.

For McCain, this point = MASSIVE FAIL

I happen to work at a planetarium in a similar situation to the Adler. This "overhead projector" is most likely closer in fact to a system of many high-end digital projectors all stitched together and controlled by a whole room of computers. This is very sophisticated equipment you won't find at your neighborhood big-box electronics store and it takes a very skilled set of people to engineer and implement a system such as this. After all, it is replacing a 40-year-old projection system for something much more capable and flexible for displaying any type of educational media. Education costs money... especially when it the tools involved are 40 years old. That being said, the Zeiss Star Projector that is there now is still an extraordinary piece of equipment capable of some very beautiful and inspiring imagery. It's what led me to where I am now, and I am very happy with my career.

I'll let you get back to the earmark discussion now. Oh... and hold on! This is gonna be one bumpy ride.

Just going from memory here- I recall Obama asking for 1 mil for his wife's medical center which as a "non-profit" turns a good profit of several million dollars. A couple of million to his political godfather, Emil Jones, and some to other campaign contributers- I think Fr. Michael Pfleger got some (he's the one who mocked Hillary in Rev. Wrights church) and a substantial amount to an amory in Rockford.

The rest of us other minorities get nothing, but that's OK with me, I am not into entitlement and I don't plan to vote for the Chicago pol anyway...

Good news--ACORN was raided in Nevada today. Obama and Ayers gave them grants from two boards they chaired and/or founded.

Thank you, Dan, for your comment. I have to agree with you. Sen. McCain was not wise to bring up this issue as an example of "wasteful spending" or "pork." Investing in the educational opportunities for the young and old alike is never a waste of our tax dollars, and having world class planetariums, museums, and other learning tools are not examples of wasteful spending. In fact, one could say that if federal funds should be used in state affairs, these are exactly the types of projects that should be funded.

Some of my fondest memories as a child involve my father taking my brother, sister, and me to the planetarium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It was such an exciting event for us and I was thankful that the facility was even there to serve North Carolinians. McCain was wrong (and even out of touch) to suggest that planetariums were illegitimate projects and just another example of wasteful spending. He was not just wrong, he was completely wrong.

$1,648,850 for the Shedd Aquarium by Senate appropriator Richard Durbin (D-Ill), Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), House appropriator Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.). The aquarium’s website says the facility was a “gift to the people of Chicago from John Graves Shedd, president and chairman of the board of Marshall Fields & Company.” This aquarium receives 2 million visitors per year and has 36 corporate benefactors. At the end of 2004 (the last year for which information is available), the aquarium had a fund balance of approximately $200 million.

$4,800,000 by Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) for the Jamaica Bay Unit of the Gateway National Recreation Area. The Gateway National Recreation Area’s website describes the Jamaica Bay Unit as “a wealth of history, nature and recreation, from New York City's first major airport and coastal fortifications to a wildlife refuge and pristine beaches.” Under Defense budget.

(from Citizens Against Government Waste site)

As a 22 year old student in Indiana, I am shocked by how many people are stating that a measly $3 mil for an incredibly complex device, with potential for inspiring children and adults alike, is a ridiculous use of taxpayer money. My town is much, much smaller than Chicago and our museum just initiated a $15 mil renovation of its own planetarium. $1.5 mil of that was provided by our local government. (I'd happily help fund the campaign of those who helped make that happen too.) How is this so different and terrible simply because it involves the federal government in this case? For what it's worth, I can recall countless times I crossed the border into Illinois to learn more.

Most of the strongly negative comments also contain false assumptions that it was a small-scale projector for a single inner-city school. This goes to show how ignorant some people are in regards to the incredible financial detriment some school systems are in, among other things.

Bottom line, the GOP should drop this issue like it never happened... if they know what's good for them. Unfortunately for them, they're repeatedly showing that's not the case.

People don't understand "earmarks". it just means that the money is "earmarked" for a particular cause as opposed to being spent from general funds. The issue is IF (and that is IF) it was earmarked for the wrong reasons (paybacks, etc.). But it could very well be earmarked because, like in this case, it was needed to inspire young children at the Adler Planetarium. And it's not an "overhead projector." This is a planetarium with a sky theater that projects the universe of stars onto the dome, it's a very sophisticated device that will educate children and adults for generations, inspire them, to do things like go to Mars and change our world like going to the moon did. Fools, that you don't understand that.

Westcoastmessenger:

The Adler Planetarium is a major landmark museum near Grant Park in Chicago. Right next to the Shedd Aquarium and the Museum of Natural Historyu. It's considered one of the best in the country. It's visited by tourists from all over the country. Get your facts straight before going off half-cocked.

Disappointing that you've decided to rail against Obama. I recall from an earlier post of yours that you want to "punish" him for being presumptuous, or some such thing. I really hope you'll reconsider that.

Jake, you should also check to see if this request was funded. Remember, these are requests, not necessarily funded ones. Obama is among a very few senators who actually post their budget requests, a level of transparency generally not exercised.

The point is that these requests need to be open to scrutiny. Obama's requests are, and this is not a bad one. The item in question is the centerpiece of any planetarium, and the Adler is a major landmark museum that is visited by tens of thousands of people.

Yet more McCain stupidity.

Wow - the children of Chicago get access to a $3M projector using federal funds? What about the children of Denver...and Nashville...and Miami. Folks, you're missing the point of earmarks. It's not just whether the project is worthy. It's that the project is payback for a vote/support for something else. Let the city of Chicago or state of IL take care of the projector. They have their own tax bases.