Rep. Obey's Son Gets Stimulus Perk

And so it begins:

A top House Republican is demanding an investigation into whether the more than $2 billion for national parks in the House stimulus package is proper in light of the fact that the chief lobbyist for the National Parks Conservation Association is the son of House Appropriations Committee Chairman David R. Obey.

NPCA is a major player in advocating for national parks funding, and its senior vice president for government affairs is Craig Obey, son of the Wisconsin Democrat who has long been his party's top Appropriations Committee member.

The money included in the stimulus bill that passed Mr. Obey's committee - $2.25 billion - was about equal to the National Park Service's total yearly budget, and would be a staggering increase and almost three times the $802 million that the Senate Appropriations Committee approved for park spending in its stimulus bill.

Expect a great many more stories like this as the Democrats were efectively handed the keys to the bank and are running wild. Nepotism and backscratching are going to run wild.

The House approved fiscal armageddon yesterday and once the Senate joins in (and increases the size) we'll set ourselves on the road to economic collapse like we have never even considered. Expect inflation to rocket up worse than the inept Jimmy Carter could manage and the unemployment rate to increase with every passing month.

I think the thing the shocks me more than anything about the chutzpah of the Democrats is that the American people are so ignorant. Poll after poll has shown an utter contempt for the Pelosi/Reid-led Congress yet we as voters allowed this farce to play out. Those who have been paying attention are appalled that we are allowing the same leadership that got us into this mess to attempt to spend our way out of it and spend on ridiculous, non-stimulative things.

Well, at the very least, the GOP was smart enough to see this for what it is: a pure scam and scramble for pork that will worsen the situation in the long run. Let's hope the Senate is smart enough to follow suit.

As for Obey, there was once a time when $2.2 billion was considered a huge amount of money. Not so anymore.