Episode 136 Show Notes- Congress Fails to Put America and Ordinary Americans First
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Episode Description
Congress has made it very clear- they have no regard for the people they have sworn to serve, and they do not have any fear of being held accountable. The recent coronavirus stimulus package, the 5,600-page monstrosity, is the latest, most stunning, and brazen example, as the elected officials throw ordinary Americans breadcrumbs as they continue to enrich themselves and their special interests. Both Republicans and Democrats have sold this country out as Congress has failed to put America and ordinary Americans first. Millions of people out of work, an estimated 30-60% of small businesses are projected to go under, and a $28-trillon debt. At what point do we say enough is enough? Tune into another can’t miss episode of The P.A.S. Report Podcast to find out.
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Show Transcript- Congress Fails to Put America and Ordinary Americans First
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Intro
Welcome everyone to another episode of The PAS Report Podcast.
I hope everyone had a great Christmas, and you were able to celebrate with the ones you love. As far as an update on Gio and Anthony, they didn’t get the PC and the treehouse, but they had a great Christmas. Santa was very generous this year, maybe a little too generous, but it’s been a rough year for kids throughout the country, so it was worth it. Sadly, the same people who claim to care about the children completely ignore the effect the coronavirus and lockdowns have had on them. It’s a real shame.
But thankfully, this is the last week of 2020, and I think I can speak for everyone regardless of ideology, goodbye, and good riddance. 2020 will go down as one of the most challenging times in our history and it was a stream of constant negativity.
Unfortunately, just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse, just when you thought our politicians couldn’t be any dumber, they somehow manage to find a way. It’s crazy.
I told you last week that I was going to go through the 5,600-page monstrosity. The coronavirus stimulus and omnibus spending package, and is even more disgusting than when I first brought it up.
These elected officials, who have sworn to serve us, the American people, sold us out. Both the Democrats and the Republicans. They throw Americans, who have had their lives and livelihoods upended, not for anything they did wrong, but because of government, which is the truly stunning part. They throw the people breadcrumbs and demand that we should be thankful to them. What’s worse, these same politicians have no problem giving your hard-earned tax dollars to foreign countries and their own special interests.
It’s disgusting and it really pisses me off. So, I’m going to go through this monstrosity of a bill. I’m going to tell you what’s in it, and it should make each and every one of you sick.
But before I explain, go to The P.A.S. Report website. Sign up for The P.A.S. Report Newsletter and subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode.
One Year Ago
Last year, I released an episode on December 26th titled Government Debt: A Fiscal Train Wreck. Here we are one year later, and the problem has only gotten worse. It’s amazing how we keep on electing these same people, and I’m talking about both Republicans and Democrats, yet it appears they serve the interests of everyone else except for America and ordinary Americans. They don’t even try to hide their complete disregard of their constituents.
It’s obvious they have no fear of being held accountable, and it shows that we have failed as well. We allow these people to serve everyone else’s interests, except for those they actually took an oath to serve.
It gets frustrating. Since I started the podcast, I did several episodes on how fiscally irresponsible our government is, and the problem has only gotten worse, particularly at a time when millions of Americans are suffering especially if they live in areas run by these authoritarian wannabes.
Breadcrumbs
Last week, Congress hailed a breakthrough in negotiations for coronavirus relief. Most Republicans and Democrats alike patted themselves on the back for working hard for ordinary Americans. They touted how their bill is going to help the working class. The working class is America’s backbone, and so Congress worked hard to ensure they help American families in their time of need.
So just how much did these brave men and women in Congress fight for the working class? Fight for you?
Apparently, they believe your worth about $600 if you’re making less than $75,000 a year, and $1,200 if you’re married making less than $150,000. You can also get up to $600 per each child/dependent. So, a family of four making under $150,000 would be getting a whopping total of $2,400.
It seems that a bunch of rich people believe $600 is what poor people think is a lot of money and enough to survive on.
Do you think I am exaggerating? Do you think I’m kidding? Well, here is Queen Pelosi exclaiming how this money is significant. Take a listen.
Play Pelosi Clip
How much more out of touch can these people be? I want to tell her to take the stimulus money and shove it. Is this moron kidding me?
Understand that people are suffering economically, they have had their lives and livelihoods destroyed. Millions are unemployed. An estimated 30-60% of small businesses are projected to go out of business. And it’s not because of something they did. This damage was inflicted by our own government through the authoritarian decrees of governors and mayors throughout the United States.
But here’s $600 so shut-up and be happy with what you get. Essentially, that’s what they are telling the American people. It’s actually insulting. Think about the people who the government deemed nonessential. They may be behind on rent, a mortgage, car loans, and have accumulated even more debt because they were deemed nonessential and have tried to survive using credit cards.
And I’m not talking about those recklessly spending. I’m talking about people who have had to use credit cards for essential things like pay the utility bill or put food on the table.
Imagine being 3, 4, 5 months behind on rent and a mortgage, but don’t worry, here’s your $600 or $1,200 check.
It’s insulting, and I am so angry. If it wasn’t this podcast, I would have dropped a ton of F-bombs already. Who the hell do these officials think they are?
People would much rather get back to work instead of the measly crumbs of $600.
Who Do the Politicians Really Serve?
And as always, it gets worse. This stimulus bill is included in a 5,600-page monstrosity, the omnibus spending package, and I started to go through it. Now, I haven’t gone through the whole thing, but I will. However, I found some real gems in this bill, and I have a link to the bill on The P.A.S. Report website. As always, I use the primary source and will cite the page numbers as I go along.
Understand this bill does nothing for the ordinary American. It’s a bill to take care of special interests and to just give money to foreign governments so that members of Congress can continue to enrich themselves. At what point do we ask, who do these elected officials really serve because it’s certainly not us. That’s for damn sure.
So, I am going to lay out some of the gems that members of Congress inserted into this bill clearly demonstrating that these politicians could care less about the working class. Even worse, is how they don’t even try to hide it anymore.
Wasteful Spending as Americans Suffer
So as many ordinary Americans are suffering. As they are struggling to get through the holidays, here is what your elected officials have decided to spend money on. Now I’ve put a link to the massive spending bill on The P.A.S. Report website in the show notes so you can check out the bill for yourself. (Text of Spending Bill- Click Here)
Page 17- $6-million for the “alteration and repair of buildings in the Department of Agriculture. How many facilities do they have that are in need of repair and are these repairs essential? You know, here’s a thought, at a time where we are seeing more people telecommute, maybe we don’t need these huge facilities anymore. Also, maybe this isn’t the time to improve federal buildings unless it’s absolutely vital, especially given the state of our economy. But upgrading federal facilities is littered throughout this bill. I’m not going to go agency by agency, but another example is on Page 141.
Page 141– $1.1-million for the renovation and modernization of the Herbert Hoover Building. Sorry, but given what Comey, McCabe, Strzok, Page, and others within FBI leadership, the senior leadership of the FBI shouldn’t get a dime. In fact, Director Wray should have to work in the basement on milk crates with a leaky pipe given the lack of leadership he has shown to clean up and fix the corruption.
On Page 147- the Bureau of the Census Working Capital Fund gets $208,000,000 for information and business technology system modernization and facilities infrastructure improvements.
So, I’m reading about all these departments getting your taxpayer dollars for “technology modernization. Then on page 1766, I see $300-million being allocated for “department-wide, program-specific information technology systems. Huh? Apparently, this is separate from all those other technology modernization programs.
You would think that every federal building is completely dilapidated and working on 1950’s technology with the amount we spend on technology modernization and facilities improvements.
Page 23- “Not Less Than” $15-million for the hiring of new employees to fill vacancies and anticipated vacancies at the Farm Service Agency. Now I’ve been teaching about the bureaucracy for quite some time, and I never even heard of the Farm Service Agency. Reading these bills, you learn something new every day. With $15-million being allocated, I’d like to know how many new employees they need and what they will get paid per year. Remember, this is a spending bill for the current fiscal year, and so this doesn’t account for the future costs. Also, on Page 27, we find that $294-million shall be transferred to and merged with the appropriation for “Farm Service Agency, Salaries, and Expenses.” Damn, the Farm Service Agency gets a lot of money.
Page 26- $60-million for boll weevil eradication. So, I had to research exactly what a boll weevil is. Turns out it’s a beetle that can destroy crops. We declared war on the boll weevil in 1958, and we began funding this program. Now I never did any research on the boll weevil before, and I probably know more now than I ever should. It turns out the boll weevil are pretty destructive, and eradication actually saves money in the long-term, but the problem I have is that the program first emerged in 1958. (NC State) Now, I’m a simple person with simple questions. If the program first emerged in 1958, how many billions of dollars have been spent on this program? The goal of the program is to eradicate the boll weevil. Eradicate means completely destroy, eliminate. It’s now 62-years later and we still haven’t eradicated the boll weevil. Isn’t time to reevaluate what we’re doing. I mean after 62-years, maybe we can take a more innovative approach. Just sayin’.
And on Page 1607, we are now starting a new program to eradicate the murder hornets to the tune of $4-million per year from 2021 to 2025. That’s $20-million. Hopefully, we have more success than we did against the boll weevil beetle.
On Page 1029- $217-million is provided to schools for violence. The money is designed to assist schools in response to school violence. Now, I’m not saying that’s not a problem, but nearly all schools have an emergency response plan, particularly due to the rash of school shootings over the last 20-years. Don’t forget, the amount the local and state governments spend on this as well.
On the same page, over $797-million is allocated for English Language Acquisition.
On Page 1290- We provide $5-million for refugees resettling in Israel. Not the United States, but Israel. In total, we spend about $300-million on Migrant and Refugee assistance not just here, but throughout the world.
Page 1498- I found some real gems. $74.8-million is being spent on the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative. This is meant to reduce the flow of illegal drugs into the United States by partnering with a bunch of Caribbean countries. From 2010-2020, we’ve spent over $600-million a year on this initiative. (State Department) But it’s not just about the flow of illegal drugs. The initiative also promotes social justice. Even worse is that a report issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that we cannot “ensure the reliability of our program monitoring data because collection and maintenance of this data is conducted differently in each country and there is no centralized data storage system.” (GAO) So, we don’t even know if this program is even making any significant difference and according to the GAO we will, “continue to struggle with program monitoring of CBSI activities.”
According to what I’ve researched, I cannot find any information that the countries involved provide any type of funding. It looks like it is funded 100% by America. Even worse, is the social justice portion run through USAID is meant to help at-risk youth in these countries. Now, I feel bad for the at-risk youth in these countries, but what about the at-risk youth here in the United States? Are we really going to say social justice comes in the forming of shortchanging the most vulnerable American populations for foreign countries? This is disgusting and every American should be outraged.
Also, on Page 1498– We are going to provide $33-million for democracy programs in Venezuela. According to a Congressional Research Report, we have spent $76-million for Democracy programs in Venezuela, and now we will be providing an additional $33-million. (CRS) Not sure if any of these nitwits have noticed that Venezuela is more authoritarian than ever before, and it doesn’t look like our efforts have succeeded. In fact, you can make the effort that the more money we have invested, the opposite of the program has happened, and Maduro has more control now than he did just a couple of years ago. And on Page 1499, we are also providing funding to countries that are taking in Venezuelan refugees.
And it’s not just democracy programs in Venezuela. We are providing “not less than” $20-million to fund democracy programs in Russia, Eurasian, and Central Asian countries. $15-million for democracy programs in Pakistan. $23-million for democracy programs in Bangladesh. $15-million for South Sudan. On Page 1272, we provide $300,000,000 to the National Endowment for Democracy. Looking at all the money we spend on Democracy programs around the world, you would think there would be more democratic countries. At what point do we reevaluate this program to determine if it is meeting its objectives and remains aligned with our strategic interests?
I would love for someone to explain to me what these democracy programs actually do. I want to know what organizations get these contracts, and how much the top people in these organizations make per year. I can guarantee if we look into these programs, we will probably find a massive amount of corruption.
On page 415- We allocate $250-million for enhanced border security. Border security. It’s such an important concept. Think about how many in both political parties have fought against the idea of border security over the last two decades. Think about how the Democrats have fought President Trump when it comes to enhancing our border security and building a wall on our Southern border. Now we are allocating $250-million for border security. It would seem as if our elected officials have finally woken up to the need for border security.
Oh, wait. The $250-million dollars is not for border security in the United States. See, our Congressional representatives don’t believe in border security here. This money is allocated for border security in Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia, and Oman. So apparently the people in these countries deserve a secure border funded by U.S. taxpayers, but you don’t deserve a secure border. That tells you everything you need to know about Congress and what they really think of ordinary Americans.
And we don’t just provide Egypt with funding for border security. According to Page 1436, Egypt shall receive “not less than” $125-million in assistance, of which $40-million should be made available to higher education programs in Egypt, and $15-million for scholarships for Egyptian students “with high financial need to attend not-for-profit institutions of higher education in Egypt…” I want you to think about that. Millions of American taxpayer dollars going to help Egyptian higher education programs, and to offer scholarships to Egyptians to attend college in Egypt as millions of American families are struggling. It’s funny because you constantly hear about the student loan crisis in the United States, yet here is how your taxpayer dollars are being used.
And on the very next page, we are providing Egypt with $1.3-billion to Egypt’s military with no requirement that they purchase military hardware from the United States. And just so you know, in July Egypt received the first batch of Russian SU-35 fighter jets they ordered.
And we aren’t just assisting Egypt’s higher education programs. On Page 1457, we provide $10-million to Malawi’s higher education institutions.
Jordan doesn’t just receive money for border security. On page 1442, we allocate $1.65-billion to the country of Jordan. Yes, $1.65-billion.
On Page 1462- We are providing $135-million to Burma for narcotics control and for community organizations to provide food, medical, and other humanitarian assistance to displaced persons in eastern Burma.
On Page 1485- We provide Bangladesh with about $198-million. I recognize Bangladesh is a poor country, but let’s look at what some of this money is supposed to be sent for. $23.5-million for Burmese refugees. $10-million for programs to protect freedom of expression and due process of law, and of course the democracy programs I spoke about earlier. On the same page, we will also be providing $130-million to the country of Nepal.
On Page 1486– We see the $24-million for Pakistan on democracy programs, but also $10-million dollars for gender programs designed to improve gender equality in Pakistan. Now I’m all for gender equality, but at a time where Americans are truly suffering, is it our responsibility to fund gender equality programs in Pakistan? Where are all the gender equality warriors in the United States? I’m constantly hearing about gender equality here. So, I have two questions, if we have gender equality problems in the United States, should we be the ones really teaching the Pakistani’s about gender equality? Also, if we have so much gender inequality here in the United States, shouldn’t the gender equality warriors be screaming to spend that money here as opposed to a foreign country.
On Page 1489- We give $15-million Sri Lanka to refurbish a “high endurance cutter.” Now the U.S. Coast Guard gave Sri Lanka a decommissioned high endurance cutter. So, we give them the cutter, and now we are paying to refurbish it. Really? Shouldn’t we simply get a thank you for donating the cutter to them? Why should the American taxpayer be responsible for a piece of equipment we donated to a foreign country?
On Page 1490- We provide $506-million to Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. The money goes to the Central America Regional Security Initiative. We’ve spent over a billion dollars on this program since 2008. (U.S. Embassy) Now the Central America Regional Security Initiative has five goals
- Create safe streets for the citizens of the region
- Disrupt the movement of criminals and contraband to, within, and between the nations of Central America
- Support the development of strong, capable, and accountable Central American governments
- Re-establish effective state presence, services, and security in communities at risk
- Foster cooperation between the nations of the region, international partners, and donors to combat regional security threats
What have we gotten as a result of our enormous investments? Well, the conditions in several of these conditions have deteriorated and are actually worse now. Also, the Woodrow Wilson Center did an analysis of this initiative and found the initiative, “does not reflect an integrated strategy for addressing the critical security threats in Central America and thus has had a negligible impact on the factors driving the increased Central American migration since 2011.” (Wilson Center) So why do we keep throwing away millions of taxpayer dollars every year on a program that has had a negligible impact?
Also, I want you to think about this. I went through a decent amount of the bill so far, and I have yet to come across anything that mentions the communist government of China and the Fentanyl epidemic that’s destroying our society. Understand, that fentanyl is not just killing those with addiction problems. Just a few months ago, I had on Michael Gray, and his daughter Amanda was not an addict and yet she died from a fentanyl overdose.
And just so everyone is aware, in a 12-month period, we lost a record 81,000 Americans to overdoses. (AP News) Why don’t their lives matter to those who want to see stricter lockdowns? Many of these are not the addicts you normally think about. These are ordinary Americans according to Shannon Monnat, A Syracuse University researcher who studies overdose trends. She told the Associated Press, “I don’t suspect there are a bunch of new people who suddenly started using drugs because of COVID. If anything, I think the supply of people who are already using drugs is more contaminated.” What many people don’t know is that fentanyl has been found in recreational drugs like marijuana, and it’s also been pushed as ordinary pain medication.
So, we know fentanyl and synthetic opioids are ravaging our society. We know that 90% of the fentanyl supply comes from China. We know that the communist regime of China is either behind this organized campaign or willfully ignoring it because they can put an end to the fentanyl trade relatively easily because they are a police state, yet they choose to allow an endless supply flow into the United States. Yet, this 5,600-page monstrosity doesn’t mention any of this, nor does it allocate any money to pushback on China and our fentanyl
On Page 1465- We provide $85-million to Cambodia for security, democracy programs, health, and education programs.
On Page 1500- We provide Ukraine with $453-million mostly for security assistance.
On Page 1591- We are giving Sudan $700-million taxpayer dollars. $700-million!
Now I haven’t gone through the entire bill yet. It’s a lot of work, but these are just some of the things I found that were eye-popping. I also found $175-million we are going to spend on carbon removal, tax credits for people who own race horses, and another $1.3-billion for Diversity programs.
Republicans Are Not the Party of Fiscal Responsibility
Any elected official that supports this bill betrays the oath they took to serve the American people. And for all those Republicans out there that vote to support the bill, I never want to hear you preach about fiscal responsibility again. You have no right to slam Democrat spending when you have made the Democrats look like pikers the last few years.
Closing
But we’re supposed to shut up and be thankful for the measly $600 we get. Now for me, I’m still working and receiving a paycheck. While I will take whatever Congress gives, the reality is that I’m not the one that should be getting a stimulus.
I told you months ago that Congress doesn’t know how to be creative when it comes to stimulus. It doesn’t target the working-class families truly in need. It gives a bunch of money to a bunch of special interests and foreign governments.
Realize that the ones who are making out ahead, it’s not you. It’s not ordinary Americans. It’s the corporate giants who’ve been deemed essential. The same corporate giants that the left has railed against for years. They are the ones who are benefitting. The special interests are the ones benefitting. The lobbyists are the ones benefitting.
And you, well you get to buy cake with the crumbs Congress throws you. It doesn’t matter that your struggling, and it doesn’t matter that it’s the government that derailed our economy. Yet, we will reelect the same morons time and time again even though they have abandoned us and our interests a long time ago.
It’s bordering on the point of absurdity, and enough is enough. It’s clear that our government no longer works in the interest of America and the American people.
And just like last year, the same thing will continue to happen until we hold these people accountable.
Each and every one of our New Year’s resolutions should be to hold the government accountable regardless of political party. The government must do what’s in the best interests of America as a whole, not special interest groups, not the corporations, not the lobbyists. Not by giving us stuff and funding endless programs that think benefit us, but by returning government to the size and scope our founding fathers intended.
Remember, the founding fathers feared a large, all-powerful central government because they understood that it is much more difficult to contain the powers and abuses of the government. They wanted a government that was limited in power. They created the system of federalism for a reason, giving the state governments their respective powers, and the federal government separate powers.
Unfortunately, because we have disengaged from the process, the government is out of control. They believe they are rulers, not elected officials there to represent what’s in our interests, the state’s interests, and the interest of the country as a whole.
They want us to shut up and obey. But we are not going to shut-up. We are not going to sit idly by and watch as the politicians continue to mortgage our future for their own gain.
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In any event, I’m not going to be releasing the episode on Wednesday. But before I go, I want to thank each and every one of you out there for listening. I do this show because of you, and I never charge a fee for the content because of how important the issues are. This year, The P.A.S. Report audience grew by 119%, and that’s because many of you have referred this podcast to others. Without you, I wouldn’t be doing the podcast, so I just want you to know how grateful I am.
I wish you all a Happy, Safe, and Healthy New Year. Let’s hope 2021 is better than 2020, and I believe it will be.
I want to thank you for joining me, and I’ll be back next year.
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