File Under: The Kind of Nakedly Corrupt Patronage Waste That Quietly Goes on Wherever You Have Government

Thank you, USA Today:

At first glance, Congressmen Hal Rogers and Chaka Fattah don't have much in common. Rogers, a Republican, represents a rural district in Kentucky. Fattah, a Democrat, hails from an urban district in Philadelphia.

Thanks to Rogers, this year's federal spending will include $18.9 million funneled to a half-dozen non-profit groups he founded that do everything from research homeland security technologies to clean litter along his district's highways. One sponsors summer camps for students called "Rogers Scholars" and "Rogers Explorers."

Fattah directed $3.5 million this year to three non-profit groups he founded that provide scholarships and educational programs. One organizes the annual "Fattah Conference on Higher Education."

Fattah and Rogers are among eight lawmakers who have used special legislative provisions called "earmarks" to fund charities with close personal connections.

Much more outrage at the link. Via the Twitter feed of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).

Comments

[Almanian]

Threadjack: Just picked up my '11 Mustang GT Convertible. It is SWAYT!!

Off to spew some more carbon dioxide into the air...you can suck start my 5.0, Earth Firsters...

[wylie]

It's a shame that there's no attractive cars anymore. Every year is uglier than the last.

Oh well, it still goes vroom, that's what counts.

[.]

Tied with millions for the quickest and stupidest threadjack ever.
Thanks. For nothing.

[John]

What else is there to say in this thread? Fish swim, kangaroos jump, lions roar, and Congress critters steal. There is really isn't much else to it. Stealing is just what they do.

[.]

Careful, John. You just nullified about 85% of the H&R commentariat's motivation. It's like Bizarro meeting Superboy. Nothing good can come of this. Back...away...from the metaphors.

[kinnath]

No attractive cars???? I give you the 370Z Roadster.

http://www.topgear.com/uk/asse.....7Image.jpg

My '06 350Z is this color.

[PapayaSF]

Not bad, but it still looks fat, like so many cars today. The demands of aerodynamics, I suppose.

[kinnath]

fat?

You take the minimum crash impact standards and wrap enough sheet metal around the cage to make it aerodynamic. And that's what you get. The new Camaro looks like a tank in comparison.

[Bean Counter]

OMG - I'm in love!!

[Cunctator]

that is my dream car, but I can't convince myself to write the check.

Awesome car

[Cunctator]

The 370Z Roadster

[Joe_D]

Everyone knows that rock'n'roll attained perfection in 1972. Kids today, with their meaningless music in a meaningless world. Not like when *I* was a kid... we had a real zest for life, and now my life's just a barren ugly wasteland.

[Joe_D]

"and now my life's just a barren ugly wasteland"

I meant *their* lives, those damned kids.

[T]

No, I think you got it right the first time.

[John]

I love the new Mustangs. I just bought back my old 1966 Mustang I owned in high school. No shit the same car. It has an old small block 289. I love the idea of owning a V8 again.

[JW]

*You're* Papa John? Besides, I thought it was a Camaro?

[John]

That hurts. A Camaro? You really know how to hurt a guy JW.

[Citizen Nothing]

What does it mean that I lusted after a cherry '62 Corvair convertible I recently saw for sale?
Maybe I'm the Anti-Nader.

[John]

Nothing wrong with a Corvair. They had that very slick rear engine and transaxle. Great power to weight ratio.

[PapayaSF]

Ah, my first car was a '63 Corvair convertible. I loved it, but I suppose everyone loves their first car. Had a penchant for throwing fan belts, though.

[The Bearded Hobbit]

My first (running) car was a '64 Corvair 4-dr.

I got laid for the first time in the front seat* of my brother's '60 Corvair.

I *love* Corvairs.

... Hobbit

*Back seat was too small. Kept hitting my ass on the steering wheel, tho.

[JW]

Don't you know the story of him and his Camaro?

So, how'd you end up buying back your old Stang?

[JW]

Never mind. Read down first.

[John]

I didn't know that. That is cool.

[Chipotle]

I have a 65 with the 289...and an exhaust leak. So with a nice rev I get torque and a li'l exhaust buzz.

[John]

Mine was bought from my older brother (who I had sold it to) by a high school kid. He put duel exhaust and glass packs on it. I am going out to get it this weekend. I am told it is quite loud now.

[Sidd Finch]

defag it with quickness

[John]

yeah. I will keep the duel exhaust, they probably add a good 10 horsepower by letting the engine breath, but the glass packs will have to go.

[Sidd Finch]

Exhaust claims are almost always wildly overblown. It doesn't take much pipe to have negligent head loss at those flow rates. But duals sure look better and have a nice deep rumble.

[The Bearded Hobbit]

An engine is an air moving machine. Anything that you can do to improve total air flow is a Good Thing. You are right, tho, that exhaust does need to be tuned for proper backpressure.

... Hobbit

[Jeffersonian]

Very cool...is it the 400+ hp monster?

[JW]

Nice! Personally, I prefer the V6 (bang for the buck), but the GT is very sweet.

Still, you should have held out for the Shelby Cobra ed.

[Episiarch]

How unsurprising that you would go for the wimpy V6. What does your minivan have in it?

[JW]

Your mom. But she's kinda sluggish in this hot weather.

The V8's are pretty gotdamn sweet, running 12 sec. 1/4 miles stock, but loading up a GT starts getting into prices that I'm not willing to pay for a vanilla muscle car.

The V6's are < $30K and will do a 14 sec 1/4 mile. Good enough for me.

[Dello]

"How unsurprising that you would go for the wimpy V6. What does your minivan have in it?"

LOL, Bitch!

The 2010 Mustang GT with the 4.6 V8 runs a 13.9 second quarter, and costs north of $30,000.

This 1989 minivan

http://www.turbovan.net/van.html

has a 2.5 I4 and runs a 12.65 second quarter, and cost about $10,000.

[Astrid]

Personally I'd rather have one of these.

[John]

I love Ducatis. I own a BMW. But as much as I love it, there are times I would trade it for Multistrada or a Monster. I love the engine note of a Ducati V-twin.

[GoNavy]

'96 R1100R

[John]

2004 R 1150R. Same bike you have. And I love it.

[GoNavy]

Yours has a six speed, correct? My bike only has five.

Fastest sewing machine ever!

[John]

It has the six speed. It is also oil cooled. It is not an air head. Does yours have the oil coolers or is it air cooled?

[JW]

Damn, John you ride? There's hope for you yet.

I sold my last bike, 1990 Honda CBR600 F1, over a decade ago. I still miss it sometimes.

[John]

Yes I do. And danger or not, it is just a great hobby. I don't know how I remained sane before I owned a bike.

[The Gobbler]

I have more than one bike but this 1972 Honda CL350 that I maintain for my sister is my favorite (hers is green):

http://www.aztecscooters.com/s.....es/cl4.JPG

[John]

Early 70s bikes are gorgeous. Bikes from the late 70s and 80s haven't aged well. The ones from the early 70s have. There was a college kid in Charlottesville I ran into that had an old Honda SuperHawk. It was just like the one in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I remember asking the kid about the bike. He had no idea that such a book even existed or that he owned such a great bike.

Kids!!

[John]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Honda_CB77.JPG

His bike was very similar to this one.

[The Gobbler]

I also have a Hawk (1981 CB400T). I like old bikes. It's geared well for the highway:

http://classic-motorbikes.net/.....cb400t.jpg

[Sidd Finch]

I have two friends with those, one fully restored. Fun bikes.

[The Gobbler]

I love the my sister's 70's green (the original pic in red was to show the chrome pipes):

http://ssclassics.net/albums/album16/IMG_2784cl.jpg

[John]

That is great. That is a just a pure motorcycle. Pure function. No posing or extra technology. Just fun. I love it.

[Astrid]

A friend of mine recently got one of those for $500, in still running but needs some clean-up condition. I was very jealous even if I didn't have the space for one.

[GoNavy]

Oil

Your motor is just displaces a tad more and the six speed thang.

[The Bearded Hobbit]

Brothers!

Been riding since I was 13 so that makes it 43 years so far.

Latest ride is a '01 Vulcan 1500 cruiser plus a couple of Yamaha thumper dirtbikes.

Oh, a first bike? '49 Harley. Well, '49 Harley 125cc dirtbike.

... Hobbit

[Astrid]

Yeah the Ducatis have a much better sound to them. I want one someday.

[John]

Do you have a bike now?

[Astrid]

I currently have a '09 Ninja 650r, which is a fun little bike, and a great improvement on the Vulcan 500 I used to have.

[John]

I bet that is fun. And you are a girl, so you probably fit on it better. I am never comfortable on true sport bikes. That is why I like my R1150, it is fast enough to have a lot of fun and no clunky like a cruiser, but I am still up right and very comfortable.

I really like the naked street bikes like mine or the Monsters or maybe a Motoguzi.

[Astrid]

It's more that I'm a short girl that make the Ninja 650r a good fit. I know a women who makes the BMW 1200 GS Adventure look like a small bike. The Ninja 650R has a pretty upright seating position for a sports bike, it has the same frame as the ER-6n just more plastic bits.

There are some really nice naked street bikes out there, but I have to admit I'm a sucker for really nice plastic too.

[John]

I were your size, I would probably have a sport bike. My BMW isn't so much really tall as it is thick. I don't think anyone under 5'9" could ride it safely.

[Astrid]

I have a friend who is 5'4" and rides one, though watching him on his DRZ 250 is considerably more amusing. Though having sat on one, I do have to admit it is a very wide bike. Which would suck at low speeds for someone my size.

[Bronwyn]

Shit, Astrid. Now you've got me wanting a bike.

So... when my third baby is born, think I could trade in my Murano for a minivan AND a bike?

[JW]

WANT

[John]

that is nice. And also I am sure insanely fast. Wasn't the guy who got the 230 mph speeding ticket that was on the Smoking Gun a few years ago riding a VFR?

[Warty]

John, the VFR1200 is new this year. The older VFRs are 800cc, so they're not going to go that fast without some serious work.

I have an ancestor of that bike, an 85 VF700. Old as shit and not even close to as fast as a modern bike, but it still hauls ass when I want it to. And I love that V4 engine noise. When I have money in the future, I'll get a VFR1200.

[Warty]

they're not going to go that fast without some serious work.

Like this. Though it probably wouldn't get to 230 even at 140hp.

[T]

It's hard to get bikes up over 200. It becomes a question of raw power, because the aerodynamics are killing you.

[Warty]

Yes. The easiest way to get that fast is to get a Hayabusa and take off the governor.

[T]

Hayabusa's are just ugly, though. I understand why they look like they do, but I don't have to like it.

[JW]

'Busas are for the batshit crazy riders. I got my CBR up to 140 once on a freshly paved highway with a buddy, who was on his 650 Seka. That was enough insanely joyous fear for this life. (He later on got a ticket for "in excess of 100 MPH" on the same road. It took the cop 3 miles to catch up to him.)

You can always tell it's a Busa by that telltale bulge down low in the fairing.

[GoNavy]

If I were to buy another bike, it would be a VFR probably was the bike I should have bought in the first place. BMW of Orlando talked me into the naked bike; conviced my (right or wrong) that the BMW farings are two good and I'd roast behind an RS's faring in the summer while doing 80 on the Bee Line.

I don't think I would look at Beemers again, though I do like my bike - just not enough to drop beemer bucks again and they sound like sewing machines - very fast sewing machines.

[JW's wife]

NO

[JW]

But, sugarsnuggims....

Actually, I want to do the entire Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit before I get another bike. Though, for what that would cost, I could probably get 10 bikes.

I've already dropped hints for tix to ONE F1 Grand Prix as a present for when I hit 50.

[sugarsnuggims's boyfriend]

Coincidence! I want you to do the circuit too! Bon voyage and I'll try to save you a piece of cake.

[JW]

Hey, if you're paying, that's a worthwhile trade.

You can have my piece of cake.

[sugarsnuggims]

I have always wanted to trade-up from the subcompact. I prefer something fun and harder to drive.

[Almanian]

Astrid, you are a woman after my own heart. Have a 2006 ZX14 Ninja (AKA "Godzirra") for when I REALLY want to go fast 🙂

You're right about the Duc's - they sound fab and are gorgeous. Make mine the ol skool GT1000. Red. 🙂

[John]

Yeah. Astrid is rapidly passing Dagny as the greatest female poster ever on Hit and Run.

[Enough About Palin]

A spot that will be forever held by Smacky. She sure was cute.

[John]

Yeah. She was definitely up there.

[T]

I'm really eyeing the ZX-14. I'm tired of all my issues with British machinery, aka my Triumph Daytona 1200 SE. I just want something that starts consistently and doesn't have bizarre, undiagnoseable issues.

My new boss wins for the cool motorcycle story, though. For his 50th birthday last year, he took his BMW 650 from Calgary to Argentina. 18,000 km on a 650 thumper. Hardcore.

[Almanian]

My ZX just works - "Turn Key, Push Button, Go". And it is the definition of "stupid fast". I think I have 11,000 miles on it now - something like that. Just got new tires @ 5,000 (Dunlop Roadsmart - highly recommend for a big, heavy, powerful bike like this) and change the fluids annually - that's it.

Highly recommend it.

[Rabbit Scribe]

Paraphrasing P.J. O'Rourke on Oskar Schindler:

"In his youth, Schindler was a champion motorcycle racer, which goes a long way towards simplifying the story: he used his factory to save Jews because he fucking felt like it. And he wasn't afraid of the Gestapo because he wasn't afraid of anything."

[Pro Libertate]

I found the quote in Google Books.

[The Gobbler]

"Thanks to Rogers, this year's federal spending will include $18.9 million funneled to a half-dozen non-profit groups he founded that do everything from research homeland security technologies to clean litter along his district's highways. One sponsors summer camps for students called "Rogers Scholars" and "Rogers Explorers.""

A Robert Byrd in waiting?

[DADIODADDY]

Only if he's waiting to croak...

[The Gobbler]

Who isn't?

[PapayaSF]

Can't we have a law that says no federal money goes to anything that has the name of a sitting federal officeholder?

[Sudden]

Wha?!?! No money for Little Lebowski's Urban Achievers?

[TDR]

+100

Git 'em, John!

[Mokers]

Brandt: Oh, those are Mr Lebowski's children, so to speak.
The Dude: Different mothers, huh?
Brandt: No.
The Dude: Racially he's pretty cool?

[Paul]

These politicians are merely giving back to the community.

[Almanian]

This was such a "stupid threadjack" that it generated the majority of the comments for this post.

*surveys smiling Reasonoids happy to talk about cars and bikes*

My job here is done...

[JW]

Excellent work. So, when are you swinging by to take us for a ride?

[Joe_D]

My soul is terrifying.