What else is in that TEA Gresham Barrett Is Brewing?
Posted on 08. Apr, 2009 by Tim Kelly in SC Politics
As first reported here yesterday, Gresham Barrett met with Columbia City Council yesterday in a stunning display of hypocrisy and pure hooey – most of it on his part, but let's don't forget the city officials who gave kissed his..um, ring…and gave him a forum.
Reversing himself is nothing new for Gorgeous Gresham. After all, he was against a bank bailout before he was for it. But in positioning himself to succeed another handsome Congressman with no actual accomplishments to speak of, Barrett has been executing some Olympic-caliber backflips.
More after the flip.
“It is my sincere hope that this Stimulus package fails and we in Congress can debate a bill that doesn’t hurt the future of this nation.”
…he did say he supports stimulus money for local governments.
“It’s growing the economy through the private sector not the public sector, but there are things the public sector needs to do,” such as providing infrastructure, Barrett said. “If there are shovel ready projects ready to go, South Carolina needs to step up to the plate.”
Even better is Bouncing Barrett's gyrations on the omnibus spending bill and earmarks.
Barrett's statement on the omnibus spending bill on March 11, 2009:
“It is clear now, with the signing of the omnibus spending bill, that the President and many of my colleagues believe spending more taxpayer money and growing the government is the path to prosperity. In this Administration’s first fifty days alone, the Democrats in Washington have spent $1 billion every hour, making government spending a serious liability on every hard-working American’s bank account.
“I couldn’t disagree more with their tax and spending approach. Unlike some of my colleagues, I have faith in the American people. I believe empowering individuals and small business is the answer. America’s greatest economic asset is its people – not its government.”
Here's some of the outrageous spending Barrett requested in that bill he voted against:
- Radio Communications System for Anderson County: $5.4 million
- Remote Environmental Sensing Project for Clemson University (is that like volcano monitoring?): $1.5 million
- National Textile Center for Clemson University: $13 million
- Light-weight Reversible Camouflage Netting for Milliken, Inc.: $2.3 million
- $28 million for water and sewer projects around the Upstate
Even more impressive are the funds he sought for projects outside his district: $40 million dollars for an interchange in Orangeburg County and $5 million for a biofuels plant in Charleston.
In all, Gorgeous Gresham tried to get 33 separate earmarks totalling over $154 million.
I guess Barrett could claim that he voted against the bill because it ultimately didn't include enough stuff out of his own pork barrel. He ultimately proved his “effectiveness” as a Congressman by actually securing funding for seven of his pet projects totalling less than $4 million. I'd be willing to be he shows up personally to snap a picture and hand out those checks though.
Brad Warthen wants to know why Democrats are resent Barrett's appearance with City Council yesterday:
Maybe some of y’all could explain this to me: Why would Democrats resent Gresham Barrett, who had opposed the stimulus, now helping local governments get their share? Don’t they want him to do that?
What I – and more than a few Republicans – resent, Brad, is Barrett breezing into town to try and take credit for a whole lot of things he voted against. What I resent is a fake populist railing against earmarks while seeking to secure $150 million of them. What I resent is another Republican who wants to run a government that he's spent his whole career telling us is evil.
And, yes, I hate him because he's pretty.
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