Republican Hypocrites Feed at the Gov't Teat

Sen. Richard Shelby, Republican of Alabama claims that President Barack Obama's stimulus plan is nothing but "socialism".

"We're going down a road where it's unchartered. We're going down a road to disaster. We've never seen this kind of spending - ever. There's got to be some other way better than what we're doing. Not the socialist way, but to try and get our free market working again."

Shelby proceeded to vote against the stimulus package. He was not, however opposed to procuring a big hunk of that socialist "pork" for Alabama.

Federal funds the senator has procured for his state since January 2009

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01/29/09
Shelby: Applications Available for Delta Regional Authority Grants
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01/28/09
Shelby Announces $317,188 for the University of Alabama at Birmingham
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01/23/09
Shelby Announces $ 54,600 for Town of Midway
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01/23/09
Shelby Announces $2.7 Million for the University of Alabama at Birmingham
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01/23/09
Shelby Announces $286,962 for Center Point Fire Department
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01/23/09
Shelby Announces $44,650 for Pittsview Volunteer Fire Department
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01/23/09
Shelby Announces $967,082 for Daphne Fire Department
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01/23/09
Shelby Announces $202,089 for Skinnerton Volunteer Fire Department
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01/23/09
Shelby Announces $25,120 for Fairview Volunteer Fire Department
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01/23/09
Shelby Announces $10,175 for Sprott Volunteer Fire Department
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01/22/09
Shelby Announces $1.2 Million for Geneva Municipal Airport
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01/22/09
Shelby Announces $2.1 Million for Dothan Regional Airport
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01/22/09
Shelby Announces $235,460 for Camden Municipal Airport
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01/22/09
Shelby Announces $1.4 Million for Mobile Regional Airport
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01/22/09
SCHUMER, SHELBY ANNOUNCE NEW LEGISLATION TO CRACK DOWN ON WALL STREET FRAUDSTERS
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01/16/09
Shelby Announces $60,000 for Magnolia Springs Volunteer Fire Department
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01/16/09
Shelby Announces Over $1.5 Million for Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport
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01/16/09
Shelby Announces $153,060 for City of Arab Fire Department
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01/16/09
Shelby Announces $67,029 for Collirene Volunteer Fire Department
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01/16/09
Shelby Announces $85,629 for Cottonwood Fire Department
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01/16/09
Shelby Announces $273,639 for Brewton Municipal Airpor
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01/16/09
Shelby Announces $324,622 to Baldwin County Airports
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01/16/09
Shelby Announces $355,870 to Coffee County Airports
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01/16/09
Shelby Announces $380,278 for Mobile County Airports
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01/16/09
Shelby Announces $352,926 to Henry County Airports
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01/16/09
Shelby Announces $28,000 for Alabama Historical Commission

The total funds for Alabama comes to well over $13 million and that is just for January, 2009. In November, 2008, Shelby appropriated over $14 million for programs in Alabama including more than $6 million for Alabama Head Start Programs.

Kit Bond: "Against" the Stimulus bill until he's "All for It"


They talk a good game but even the so called "free-market" Republicans no better than to risk a second Depression. From "Bits of News"

The First Hunger March

Empty is the cupboard,
no pillow for the head,
we are the hunger children
who cry for milk and bread.
We are the hunger children
who cry for milk and bread.
We are the worker's children
who must, who must be fed.

- song that was sang by children
at the gates of the White House, Thanksgiving Day, 1932, shortly before they were arrested

I'm spending my nights at the flophouse
I'm spending my days on the street
I'm looking for work and I find none
I wish I had something to eat

- the popular 'Soup Song' sung to the tune of 'My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean'

Local hunger marches started on April 1, 1931, when a large group of unemployed forced their way into the Maryland state legislature to demand relief. Later that month 3,000 turned out in Columbus, Ohio. In May 15,000 unemployed marched on Lansing, Michigan. By the end of summer there had been 40 hunger marches in states all over the country.

Despite this growing movement, it was business as usual in Washington. A few of the more bold Democrats proposed modest relief packages which Hoover immediately vetoed. It required someone outside of the two parties to take this movement to the next level, and that someone was Herbert Benjamin.

Herbert Benjamin was an unapologetic communist until his dying day. A few months before he had returned from Moscow where he had received training on organizing the unemployed.

Unlike Coxey's Army in 1894, this hunger strike would have 1,670 "delegates" rather than being a ragtag group. Columns of unemployed represented by all races would leave from Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, and St. Louis, and all arrive on December 6. Marches from the west coast would leave earlier and meet up in either Chicago or St. Louis.

Each delegate wore an armband that said "National Hunger March, December 7, 1931", which was the day that Congress would open for a new session. There were ten marchers to a truck as well as a smaller car that would run ahead looking for hostile crowds and/or police. While the media and local governments were extremely hostile to the marchers (Mayor Mackey of Philadelphia advised them to "pass by" his city. Hartford closed its streets to them), the public often turned out in large numbers to cheer them on and protect them from the local police. The marches were given $40 for all expenses, but frequently local communities would furnish them food and medical care free of charge, or at cost.

All of the columns reached Washington D.C. on December 6, as scheduled. Both the Hoover Administration and the media was in an uproar.

Three days later, however, 14 persons appeared outside the White House as "hunger marchers." In a cold drizzle they unfurled their banners ("Mr. Hoover, We Demand Food & Lodging," "Mr. Hoover You Have Money for the Entertainment of the Fascist Assassin Grandi."). Promptly the police pounced on them, arrested all 14 for parading without a permit.
[...]
Next day the U. S. Secret Service paid Leader Benjamin the compliment of taking his "hunger march" seriously and thus helping to publicize it throughout the land. Chief Moran declared that his sleuths had learned the march was really a Communist demonstration on a large scale. "Marchers" from all parts of the country would be brought to Washington in 1,144 trucks, 92 automobiles. They would be lodged and fed along the way. They would have medical attention. They would defend themselves with stones. They would be organized in military fashion. They would petition the President and Congress for relief for the jobless. They would make trouble. Only one thing in their plans did Chief Moran fail to ascertain and that was where the money was coming from to finance such a large undertaking. As usual, Moscow was publicly suspected.

"The marchers were of several races, mostly whites and negroes, but among them were several scores of yellow men from various climes. Many women appeared in the column."

- Daily Mirror

1,000 police showed up for the march, as well as 1,000 Marines, and an unknown number of secret service. Another 500 police were in the Capitol. Police were armed with shotguns and machine guns.

Vice-President Curtis sent out word that no marchers could enter the Capitol grounds carrying placards that were critical of the president. [Hmmm. Doesn't that sound a little familiar?] Congress refused to let them speak in the Capitol. Neither Democrat nor Republican heard their demands. In response the demonstrators sang the "Internationale". President Hoover also refused to see them. According to the Washington Herald, the marches who were arrested were beaten. The march then went to the AFL Headquarters to meet with President William Green, who promptly berated the marchers.

The first hunger march was over and the marchers left Washington. However, it had forced the media to actually report on the hunger problem in America, something it was loath to do. It also pushed Congress to propose relief legislation, which the Hoover Administration promptly defeated.

Bread and Circuses (soberly appended and revised)

"...while thy Rome stands and the Capitol thou hast restored to the world, Saturnalia shall continue"--Statius

Watching the corporate media feast on the Christmas scraps tossed them by Patrick Fitzgerald in the form of the Blagojevich scandal evokes scenes from the "Rites of Saturn." Though the ritual is associated with careless pleasures, Roman potteries with their grisly human heads remind us that as winter approached and torches were lit against the darkness of Saturn’s year-end chaos throats were bled upon the harvest god's altar. As the days grew lean, life reverted to its native state of misrule and madness.



Seneca the Younger, describing Rome in December of 50 AD: "Loose reins are given to public dissipation; everywhere you may hear the sound of great preparations, as if there were some real difference between the days devoted to Saturn and those for transacting business..."

If there is a single reporter who was genuinely surprised that an Illinois governor would seek to peddle his power then a child in grade school is surely qualified to join the Washington press corps. Indeed should such illicit trading be prosecuted evenly there is a certain governor recently aspired to be vice-president who richly deserves the breathless scrutiny being lavished upon poor dumb, and possibly unhinged, Rod Blago. It seems that to cheer our dark and dismal Christmas the corporate media would like us believe that "quid pro quo" is somehow a rare art unique to Chicago and not "business as usual", (or at least anything to keep their bosses' exposed cupidity out of the headlines.)

Now that a second Bush presidency has plunged us into another major recession the masters of our financial universe are desperate that we not catch on to the fact that for the last (two hundred) thirty years our country's governance has by in large been a criminal enterprise. What honest member of Congress would hand the very scoundrels who just got through fleecing the public of another 700 billion dollars and then fail to inquire to whom or to what did the Federal Reserve just quietly dole out over $2 trillion crisp new bills? Oh, but winter's almost here-- there are lean and dark days coming-- so let's pretend and make merry--off with that rascal Blago's head!-- and may his corpse leave its rotten stench upon Emmanuel and his smug St. Obama.

Before Blago There was Spitzer

It's one thing to pretend you are fighting corruption by indicting the hired hands (a la Rudy) and something else to attempt to make one's name by exposing the Lords of High Finance as did our zealous New York governor. Spitzer was stopped, thanks to his apparent arrogant belief that Saturnalia can be pursued year-round by a moral crusader.

Because of that inane sexual indulgence, Spitzer's expose of Wall Street corruption, a presumptuous inquisition that ended with a $1.4 billion settlement and the disgrace for the banking world's leading figures has been mostly forgotten save by the gangsters and front men facing thousands of shareholder lawsuits. Lawsuits I suspect that are about to vanish or be tactfully settled.

Thanks to Mr. Spitzer's reckless ambition, we now know that the chain of corruption leads right to the top. Yet despite such indisputable evidence that the thieves were guarding the cupboards our discreet and upstanding public servants who-- unlike that foul-mouthed Governor Blago would never dream of peddling a senate seat-- have handed those very same banks the dwindled remains of our children's college funds and our old-age pensions.

Against this breadth and depth of corruption it is possible to forgive poor Eliot for failing to soberly observe the line between normal behavior and the mindless excess of Saturnalia. And surely only during such a careless time as the mad days of Saturn would politicians presumably less deluded than Palin and Blago attempt to pimp their soiled garments of ethics and decency. But such is the harvest grown from avarice and greed: gamblers squander the fruits of real labor while our drunken Lords of Misrule clap their hands on the nation's grave and dance naked.