Does Marion Berry (AR-01) Accept Federal Farm Subsidies?

So which is it, Congressman? View the following video and referenced articles to find the truth! Marion Berry has long denied that he owns any farms that accept subsidies, yet his response to a question on the topic yesterday seems to contradict this. And the data shows "slick" Berry is may seem more dim witted with age but he has been more than smart enough to fleece the public for years.

Blue Dog Berry - Not so Blue With Farm Subsidy - Ken Cook at Mulch reports: Blue Dogs Are Big Winners In Subsidy-Laden Farm Bill . . .

Arkansas Rep. Marion Berry (D) Cashing In on Federal Service . . . receives farm subsidies . . . - Consider if you will, between 1996 and 2000, farm and land-holding companies that Berry owns with relatives in eastern Arkansas have received $750,449 in federal crop subsidies, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture records. . .

The Other King of Pork -- AR Representative Marion Berry - Congressman Marion Berry (D-AR) promises more pork barrel spending now that the Democrats are in charge of Congress. This is no surprise. Last year, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette wrote, "Arkansas’ Rep. Marion Berry would like to be known as the king of pork. “Nothing would please me more,” he says. . . .

BOOT BERRY

John Murth: "What's That Got to do With Me?"

When the liberal media keeps nipping at the tail of a liberal democrat, then something must be in the wind. Maybe for even the Democrats there is a point at which too much graft is really too much. Of maybe its time for the Democrats to toss the public a pork chop. With every passing day, porker and earmark king Rep John Murtha appears to be the pork chop that is going to fed to the public. Not that he doesn't deserve it.

Yesterday, The New York Times blasted John Murtha in an editorial with innuendos of his connection to using Federal money to advance his interests via family and friends. Below are a few of the comments:

One of the most favored insiders in Representative John Murtha’s rich churn of defense earmarks has pleaded guilty to criminal charges, shedding light on a twisting, pay-to-play money trail. . . . What’s that got to do with me?” commented Mr. Murtha, who previously lavished praise and tens of millions of dollars in contracts on the two companies caught up in the criminal investigation. . . . Investigators have not identified him as a target. But the inquiry is backtracking a trail of hundreds of millions awarded to Pentagon contractors who gratefully requited with tens of millions in political donations to Democrats on the appropriations subcommittee headed by Mr. Murtha.

In just one tangent of the complex inquiry, Mr. Ianieri’s company hired the lobbying firm of Mr. Murtha’s brother Kit. The company soon was blessed with money from an $8.2 million defense earmark. . . . Representative Murtha, using a 2005 tsunami relief bill, took the $8.2 million from another contractor that had severed ties with his brother’s lobbying firm. The Department of Justice alleges that Mr. Ianieri’s company then illicitly distributed $1.8 million of the money to other companies, some of them represented by Kit Murtha’s firm.

The Murtha money trail is far from fully explored but already features a second tangent of Congressional appropriations staff members’ exiting through the golden door to defense lobbying and scoring big contracts from their old bosses. Taxpayers should press the question of what all this has to do with Mr. Murtha . . .

Beyond the criminal investigation, a full-scale ethics inquiry should be pressed by House Democrats and Speaker Nancy Pelosi. If not, the Murtha money trail could lead them back to the minority.

In conclusion, the following remark by Does It All Matter posted three months ago is still appropriate [Hat tip to the same source for the above photo]: "Come on people, we had a revolution in this country once because of unfair government representation. Perhaps with the next election cycle we need to have another revolution and get rid of this bunch of corrupt scum!" [H/T to Veterans for Bill Russell]

McCain on Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Economic Crisis

Al Franken: Unfit For Office

Bill Smith, ARRA Editor: Al Franken says "I'm very proud of my career." What exactly is Franken proud of? His rape jokes? His foul mouth? His anger? His racist porn? His porn-o-rama?Rape jokes, porn and foul-mouthed anger do not make for "good training" for the United States Senate. More at http://www.FranklyFranken.com

Let's Get the Economy Moving Again

ARRA News Service: U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI), TownHall: There is little debate right now on Capitol Hill about whether the American economy is struggling. The real conversation in Washington, D.C. and in living rooms across the country is about how to get our economy moving again. Essentially this debate boils down to one question: Should America promote economic growth and job creation or raise taxes to destroy jobs and economic opportunity?

Beginning this week, Republicans will make all House members decide which side of this debate they are on by forcing votes on a bill I introduced, the Tax Increase Prevention Act (H.R. 2734). House members will have to choose whether they support Speaker Pelosi’s budget proposal that, in total, is the single largest tax increase ever proposed in the history of the United States, a $3,000 per taxpayer tax increase.

With so much money already being wasted in Washington, I believe it is wrong for Congress to try and take more money out of the paychecks of hard-working Americans. My bill would make permanent the tax relief of 2001 and 2003, and stop tax increases on raising children, earning money, saving and investing, operating a small business, adopting a child, paying off college loans and even dying.

Consider the implications of the Democrats’ proposed $680 billion tax hike in 2011 alone:

Marginal income tax rates will increase as follows:
--35% bracket will increase by 13 percent
--33% bracket will increase by 9 percent
--28% bracket will increase by 11 percent
--25% bracket will increase by 10 percent
--10% bracket will increase by 50 percent

Capital gains rates for individuals will increase from 15% and 0% to 20% and 10%.

Restoration of the marriage penalty tax.

The child tax credit will be slashed 50 percent, raising taxes by $500 per child.

The death tax will go from 0% to 55%.

I have always held the conviction that American citizens should keep as much of their hard-earned money as possible. With Americans facing rising health care costs, high energy prices and economic instability, the absolute last thing families need is to be hit with a massive, job-killing tax increase . . . [Read More]