The fact that we need this bill is sad. That people would take advantage of another person’s pain and the death of a loved one is despicable. It’s heartless.
For those of you who don’t feel like reading the bill, it states that no person may use the “portrait of picture of a deceased soldier for the purpose of advertising for the sale of any goods, wares or merchandise or for the solicitation of patronage for any business”. At first I thought these statements were a little over the top, but I can actually see someone doing that, especially when this bill is taken in conjunction with Atlas Shrugged, a current undertaking of massive proportions for me.
And, by the way, I’m tired of people telling government officials to take pay cuts to close the funding gaps. I understand that higher ups always look like the bad guys, and people always hear about how Congress passes bills that give them a raise, but honestly, they need to make money too. In reflection, what in the world is this bill for?? “An Act prohibiting Commonwealth agencies from paying bonuses to employees; and imposing penalties”? Are you kidding me? This means, that unlike the rest of the working world, state employees cannot receive bonuses on top of being poorly paid for the work they do in the first place. State level government is the middle man in the three (fed-state-local) and often gets overlooked, but never the less does important work that impacts people’s daily lives. And now no bonuses? No “Good job, Jim. Go take yourself for a steak dinner”? How about your CEOs take pay cuts for once instead of coming on hands and knees, expecting and assuming that the government will help you out again? Where did the sense of not only fiscal responsibility but fiscal appreciation go? Should not people be appropriately compensated for the work they produce?
Oh, and just in case people were wondering, House Bill 1371 for the state prohibits the mutilation of female genitalia. Not that I’m entirely concerned about someone cutting parts of me off, right now I’m a little more focused on the issue at hand: this transparency we were promised.
Watching competitive funds come across my desk everyday makes me sick. I see what these funds are going towards. I’m watching the federal money get spent and think, rather selfishly, that none of this is going to work. I can’t tell you what I’m seeing since I signed something that said I wouldn’t, but I can tell you to look. Open up your eyes. The resources are there, and they’re available to the public. This isn’t going to take just one person reading, there needs to be action on the part of many people. I do not disagree with some of the measures had they been taken in a more financially stable time, but I present the argument that this is not viable, the ARRA. This is an urban focused package, but one that will not have impact in the correct areas. As of today, 835 million dollars has been granted to the DoD. I understand these funds are needed but this is NOT the place they should be coming from. Also, when looking at the general break down at where the money is going, initially people look and see 288 billion going towards “tax relief”. Oh, how fantastic! But, wait. What’s that little star there? “Includes $15 B for Infrastructure and Science, $61 B for Protecting the Vulnerable, $25 B for Education and Training and $22 B for Energy, so total funds are $126 B for Infrastructure and Science, $142 B for Protecting the Vulnerable, $78 B for Education and Training, and $65 B for Energy.” So wait – 126 billion dollars of that is going towards science and infrastructure – essentially research grants. And 78 billion is going towards energy, which will supposedly create jobs, but primarily also focuses on research and facility development. I don’t argue that these things could be beneficial in the long run, but I object to where this money is coming from. This is my money, my future children’s taxes, my mother’s and grandmother’s income they are taking this out of for something that was promised to help the economy and those people struggling because of it. I have no direct say in what is happening, I can do very little in how this all plays out. But I’m going to make people aware of what’s going on in front of their faces and behind their backs.

Interested? Check out these sites:
Recovery.gov is a direct source for federal level information regarding the ARRA.
Be sure to also look at your local recovery sites (For PA, click here). Many larger counties/cities/municipalities are also creating pages for themselves, so keep an eye out for your local ones. (For example, Allegheny County’s is located here.)
Each department has their own Recovery Act site, and I won’t list them here. It’s easy enough: just go to the dept’s website and search for ‘recovery act’. If you don’t know the department website, Google it. One of the most interesting ones to read is the Department of Homeland Security’s, which you can view by clicking here. Notice you can also subscribe to receive e-mail updates by department and by category when information on the web page changes. Stay ahead of the curve and sign up.
Legislation for is available directly to your inbox when you subscribe through the state legislation box. In order to look at federal legislation, check out Thomas.gov. A copy of the stimulus bill is also available right at the top of the website if you want to look it over.
For the fiscally interested, check out Grants.gov, you can search for recovery grants under the advanced search so you can see where the money is going.
Give this a read. It’s important to keep in mind that this is one of the goals of the current administration, and something we need to hold them accountable for.
When reading anything on any of these websites, click on the links in the text. Don’t ignore them. The good information is often ten or twelve clicks away, and cannot be easily found just by typing in things in the search box. Also, don’t forget what you’re looking for. The words are can be promising, but hold no real meaning. Keep looking until you find what it is you’ve been wondering. If it’s not there, ask. E-mail. Call. There are laws out there now allowing you to get the information as long as it’s within security reasoning and available.
BE CURIOUS.