There will always be volcanos...whether or not current monitoring is sufficient or whether pumping $140 million additional into volcano monitoring at this particular economic point in history is wise or not is another question. Undoubtedly there was far too much "pork" in the first stimulus bill and the bail out bills. While it's nice to have all the funding for so many pet projects and every little thing on the shopping list, the simple fact is that we can no longer afford to have such a lavish Christmas at the expense of our children's future. We're destroying THEIR credit to pay for our excesses. You may be okay with that, but many of us aren't. The first stimulus package had these earmarks. Can you truly say we can afford to steal money from our children for all of these? • $2 billion earmark to re-start FutureGen, a near-zero emissions coal power plant in Illinois that the Department of Energy defunded last year because it said the project was inefficient. • A $246 million tax break for Hollywood movie producers to buy motion picture film. • $650 million for the digital television converter box coupon program. • $88 million for the Coast Guard to design a new polar icebreaker (arctic ship). • $448 million for constructing the Department of Homeland Security headquarters. • $248 million for furniture at the new Homeland Security headquarters. • $600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees. • $400 million for the Centers for Disease Control to screen and prevent STD's. • $1.4 billion for rural waste disposal programs. As I am truly NON-partisan, no matter what you like to believe, the particular pork attributed to the republican's alternative draft stimulus, which did not pass are below: • $125 million for the Washington sewer system. • $150 million for Smithsonian museum facilities. • $1 billion for the 2010 Census, which has a projected cost overrun of $3 billion. • $75 million for "smoking cessation activities." • $200 million for public computer centers at community colleges. • $75 million for salaries of employees at the FBI. • $25 million for tribal alcohol and substance abuse reduction. • $500 million for flood reduction projects on the Mississippi River. • $10 million to inspect canals in urban areas. • $6 billion to turn federal buildings into "green" buildings. • $500 million for state and local fire stations. • $650 million for wildland fire management on forest service lands. • $1.2 billion for "youth activities," including youth summer job programs. • $88 million for renovating the headquarters of the Public Health Service. • $412 million for CDC buildings and property. • $500 million for building and repairing National Institutes of Health facilities in Bethesda, Maryland. • $160 million for "paid volunteers" at the Corporation for National and Community Service. • $5.5 million for "energy efficiency initiatives" at the Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration. • $850 million for Amtrak. • $100 million for reducing the hazard of lead-based paint. • $75 million to construct a "security training" facility for State Department Security officers when they can be trained at existing facilities of other agencies. • $110 million to the Farm Service Agency to upgrade computer systems. • $200 million in funding for the lease of alternative energy vehicles for use on military installations.

No it does not. Volcano eruptions will always occur and there are usually signs it will soon without special funding.

The funny thing is spending hasn't been a problem until this year. The Democrats start spending, whether right or not, and the Republicans throw a fit. However, over a period of six years, Republicans managed to was a multi-million dollar surplus and get us on the brink of a recession. The Democrats come in for two years, we sink even deeper into the recession that had been slowly creeping for the last six years, and then the Democrats get crucified for the failures of the Republicans. I believe that the volcano monitoring is necessary. is the amount used necessary? Probably not. But the Gov. of a state that had been ravaged by a natural disaster just a few years ago should not be the one casting stones at a project that could save lives from a natural disaster.

Sounds like a coincidence to me, and after hearing some things about Jindal, I find it hard to take him seriously lol. Scientists have already been monitoring volcanoes before his statement.

Every one of these f*cking Congressmen and Senators needs to shut the f*ck up. The time to cut all the pork out of this almost TRILLION DOLLAR F*CKING BILL was BEFORE it was passed. And every stinking representative on the Hill that voted for it is PERSONALLY responsible for anything that is in it that meets the definition of "pork". In case anyone out there is wondering just how much this fricking bill is talking about here, a Nimitz class aircraft carrier costs 4.5 BILLION dollars to build. Let's round that to 5 billion for ease of calculation. That means this "stimulus bill" could purchase over 160 BRAND SPANKING NEW NIMITZ CLASS AIRCRAFT CARRIERS! (186 if you do the math with 4.5 billion each and 838 billion for the bill) That means that every frickin' State in the whole d*mn Union could each have three of their own carriers...including D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Midway Islands. And STILL have some left over! What the f*ck would we name all those carriers after? After about 50 or so, I can see the USS HERE'S ANOTHER F*CKING CARRIER being commissioned, right before the USS JESUS H. CHRIST NOT ANOTHER ONE. Sh*t, that's d*mn near 40 MILES of aircraft carriers, if lined up end-to-end. We could line them up across the Atlantic and darn near DRIVE to Europe in a car without stopping! Nearly 2 MILLION TONS of warships! If I seem to be a little bit bitter over this, YOU'RE DARN RIGHT! Our frickin' representatives bandy about hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars on a ridiculously short time frame of a few weeks and THEN have the UNMITIGATED GALL to start throwing out terms like "pork"? Well, no sh*t, Sherlock. Ya think? And as a side note, after putting stipulations in the bill about CEO's and bonuses which had grandfathered payments before some date in February, they have the f*cking audacity to make a big stink about THAT in public view! NEWS FLASH! IF YOU GIVE PEOPLE A DEADLINE LIKE THAT, YOU CAN BET THEY WILL MEET IT! So DON'T take it out one THEM! How about standing up and saying "Hey, American public! You're right! It doesn't seem fair! But WE, your duly elected representatives, bowed to political pressure and ALLOWED it to happen! And we put it into writing and signed it into law! So neener, neener, neener!" Trace the f*cking money trail back and see how many BILLIONS of dollars went to our representative's constituencies in this bloody-chum-fed-shark-feeding-spending-festival they started. And I'd LOVE to know what kind of personal political and economic kickbacks they got on top of THAT. Funding for something called "volcano monitoring" when the eruption of Mt. Redoubt, next to the third largest air cargo hub IN THE WORLD could seriously impact our economy that we're spending all this money on? When Mt. St. Helens proved how serious an impact on peoples lives a major eruption could be? When one of our States was FORMED by volcanic activity in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, which is STILL ongoing? When Yellowstone National Park sits squarely on top of a supervolcano which is historically overdue for eruption and could quite litterally wipe out half our country? I repeat my earlier statement: Our hypocritical representatives need to have a nice, piping hot cup of shut-the-f*ck-up. Oh yeah...and come the next six years worth of Congressional and Senate elections, stand the f*ck by, because I'll remember this at the voting booth. If I have enough money to be able to afford to drive there after paying for all this, that is.