Sen. Bennett Lashes Out At Sen. McCain: ‘We Ought To’ Infest Arizona With ‘Mormon Crickets’
Sen. Bennett Lashes Out At Sen. McCain: ‘We Ought To’ Infest Arizona With ‘Mormon Crickets’
Recently, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has tweeted a series of top 10 lists of “porkiest projects” in the omnibus spending bill, criticizing “beaver management” and even funding for school construction. Last month, one of his tweets was an earmark in the omnibus spending bill for “mormon crickets”
@SenJohnMcCain: #6 $1 million for mormon cricket control in Utah – is that the species of cricket or a game played by the brits?
The line has since been embraced by the right wing as an example of wasteful spending. Today, the earmark’s sponsor, Sen. Bob Bennett (R-UT) explained his rationale in a tense interview with Fox News’s Megyn Kelly, who accused Bennett of abusing federal funds for pet projects. “Why is it an earmark to begin with?” she pressed. Bennett fired back at Kelly: “Okay, will you calm down for a minute?” The Utah senator then took a shot at McCain:
KELLY: The only debate I’ve heard is John McCain telling you that this is the sixth porkiest earmark he sees in the bill.
BENNETT: Well, that may be because the Mormon crickets only infest Idaho, Utah, and Nevada. Maybe we ought to shoot some of them over the border into Arizona. But they go wherever they go. And again, the authorizing committee that examines these things is fully aware of it.
Watch it:
So-called “Mormon crickets” are actually an invasive cicada species that decimates crops across the West regularly. In 2000, the infestations cost Utah alone $22 million in crop damages. The cricket infestation in 2003 caused at least $25 million in damages. “We are going to eradicate the crickets [with the funds]. And they infest at highest point 3.5 million acres — most of which is public lands. … The crops…are being destroyed on public lands,” Bennett explained.
Bennett noted that eliminating earmarks doesn’t save federal dollars, and he scolded Fox News’s reporting. “If the money were not earmarked for this purpose, it would still be spent. That is, the Dept. of Agriculture would spend it someplace else,” he said. “So do not deceive your listeners and your viewers.”
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I wonder why none of Jon Kyl’s earmarks for the state of Arizona made it onto McCain’s list?
March 10th, 2009 at 1:06 pmWow. Even the politicians are calling BS on Fox’s ‘fair and balanced’ coverage. This could be a turning point for the MSM.
March 10th, 2009 at 1:08 pmStupid on stupid crime.
http://www.pufferfishblog.com/
March 10th, 2009 at 1:10 pmPlease no more Kelly this woman lies too much.
March 10th, 2009 at 1:11 pmEarmarks have LOOOOOONG been John McCain’s pet peeve.
But if used in moderation, they are meaningful so that the Senate does not bog down with over debating tiny localized projects.
8,000 earmarks in the omnibus is less than 2% of the overall package.
You know, this issue did NOTHING to help McCain the prez election. By FNC and Lou Dobbs bantering about it so much just shows their lustfest for McCain and it is embarrassing.
March 10th, 2009 at 1:13 pmIs Megyn Kelly running for office in Arizona?? She’s clearly qualified given the current level of intelligent dialogue coming from the two senators from that dust bowl.
Shoeless makes a great point..WHY aren’t John Kyl’s earmarks being attacked by McSame??
Will their quest for a clue ever be fulfilled??
March 10th, 2009 at 1:13 pmI’m not a fan of Senator Bennett, but he should be afforded much more respect than this sloppy reporter gives him. She’s a bully and should be asked to show some respect or get pulled off the air.
March 10th, 2009 at 1:13 pmWizards of the past
March 10th, 2009 at 1:16 pmI smite thee with rain of frogs
Battle of the plagues
I think this really just points out what an idiot McCain can be at times. He does not even do a modicum of work to figure out what exactly these “pork projects” entail.
March 10th, 2009 at 1:18 pmAll “earmarks” are not created equal. Some like getting rid of an infestation of insects damaging crops, and monitoring volcanoes are good things. The Republicans have plenty of them for their projects, and some are worthy, and others are not.
March 10th, 2009 at 1:19 pmThe Repukian plan to paint everything as “Pork” and to damage the recovery bill is in full swing…they are more interested in regaining power for their corrupt party than recovery for the nation.
Repukes = Party First
FTR
March 10th, 2009 at 1:20 pmWinski – Let us not forget that the honorable senators from AZ claim that Kyl’s are not earmarks and do not meet the “textbook” definition of an earmark because there is a “specific definition”.
March 10th, 2009 at 1:22 pmOne-trick pony.
“If the only tool you have is a hammer, then everything becomes a nail.”
That’s what I think of when I hear the McCain anti-earmark rhetoric.
March 10th, 2009 at 1:23 pmGrampa McCain sure is desperate for some attention since he lost the Big One.
March 10th, 2009 at 1:26 pm“So do not decieve your listeners and your viewers.”
I thought that was the sole purpose of Fixed Noise?
March 10th, 2009 at 1:27 pm“PORK FIGHT!!!”
March 10th, 2009 at 1:30 pmJohn “the Maverick” McCain has spent the lion’s share of his long tenure in public office fighting the dreaded earmark. Earmarks on average make up between 0.05-2.0% of a total yearly budget. What exactly does this say to the senator’s priorities when the economy is collapsing around his head and all he can muster the energy to do is feign anger and meekly pound the dais on the senate floor and have his pages create a website to list his ridiculous top ten list of earmark abuse? Your tilting at windmills again Mr. McCain and the nation can thank whatever god they pray to that you were not elected President of these United States.
March 10th, 2009 at 1:30 pm“So do not deceive your listeners and your viewers.”
Bennett might as well ask a leopard to change its spots . . . or ask Bimbo Kelly to tell the truth or treat a progressive guest with some modicum of respect.
It ain’t going to happen.
March 10th, 2009 at 1:34 pmA repignican attacking another repignican for pork? Hee hee Does anyone else see the humor in this?
March 10th, 2009 at 1:35 pmA Patriot Acting Says: feign anger and meekly pound the dais on the senate floor
To me, the most telling part of this charade was the fact that McCain had difficulty locating his copy of the bill, almost pounding the air on his left before remembering? noticing? the bill on a stand on his right. It was almost as if his speech contained the directive “pound fist on bill”.
March 10th, 2009 at 1:38 pmone really big insect related thing thats flying under most peoples radars is the dwindling number of honeybee colonies…bees play a vital part in our ecomsystem, they are responsible for helping to polinate many plants we depend on, and they are for some reason mysteriously dying out..
google: “plight of the bees” or something like that to find out more..
March 10th, 2009 at 1:38 pmLOL. I’m getting such a kick out of the circular firing squad of the GOP. How’s that tweeting working out for ya, John?
March 10th, 2009 at 1:38 pmMcCain believes babes think he’s hot when he acts all mavericky. Palin parading around naked in a towel told him so.
March 10th, 2009 at 1:41 pmWe need to have an adult discussion of how earmarks are going to be used. The childish sniping from John McCain isn’t really helpful. He seems to pick earmarks to highlight simply because he finds words in them funny. He’s playing to the Rush Limbaugh crowd rather than trying to have a serious debate.
This particular earmark is a great case in point. It apparently doesn’t increase the Department of Agriculture’s budget, but simply directs how it is to be spent. It’s a form of unfunded mandate to that department. There is nothing inherently wrong with this, but how are we to judge whether this is the best use of department funds? If controlling these insects is so important wouldn’t the department allocate money to this purpose anyway? If not, what would they spend the money on otherwise? What projects will the department have to abandon or underfund in order to pursue this project?
March 10th, 2009 at 1:44 pmMayhaps we could find a nice earwig to put in McIIIrd’s ear as he sleeps. It could lay eggs and they would starve on what’s left of his brain.
March 10th, 2009 at 1:45 pmBack in the olden days, the House of Representatives brought home the bacon to their districts and the Senate acted like statemen and handled NATIONAL matters.
March 10th, 2009 at 1:55 pmOh, for the good old days of a Congrss divided by their duties instead of their parties.
This is so delicious!
March 10th, 2009 at 2:00 pmThe reason McCain was against beaver management was that he thought it was more money for family planning.
March 10th, 2009 at 2:01 pmThere are very few subjects simple enough for McCain to discuss. Apparently earmark are almost too complicated but he has to work with anything he can.
March 10th, 2009 at 2:02 pmHa, ha,aahhh, oh McCain stop my gut is hurting. cricket..a game played by brits. Ha ahaaa, oh my god that is funny, how did you ever come up with something so witty and hilarious.
McCain is a brain-dead moron. I can almost see his shoulders bobbing up and down as he chuckles at his lame ass joke.
March 10th, 2009 at 2:23 pm“So do not deceive your listeners and your viewers.”
You’re just a smidge late on that one Senator.
March 10th, 2009 at 2:32 pmThis is just too funny! McCain just won’t quit with this earmark madness. He just looks more ridiculous by the minute. One word for McCain: RETIRE! The folks at Faux Nonsense Station constantly acuse without gathering the facts, then look even worse. Bennett sure set Kelly’s a$$ straight! LMMAO!
March 10th, 2009 at 2:35 pmAll the brouhaha over ‘earmarks’ is just so much blather. It takes absolutely no intelligence to make snide remarks about them. Many of the earmarks are for scientific research that has direct local application and can save taxpayer dollars in the long run. Its all just convenient snark for uninformed or purposely misinformed miscreants who want to make political fodder to feed to their know-nothing constituents.
March 10th, 2009 at 2:47 pmMcCain’s mentally ill. Imagine how far down the $hithole we’d be right now if he had won?????? Phew!
March 10th, 2009 at 3:01 pmRe-Thuglics resist all critical thinking. They look at a label and react without bothering to try to understand it. Like Jindal with Volcano monitoring. The lack of critical thinking is characteristic of these clowns – and it’s part of why they simply can’t govern. They don’t take time to understand the problems – they simply make decisions based on what they think – not what is real.
March 10th, 2009 at 3:19 pm*
“So do not deceive your listeners and your viewers.”
________
Riiiight.
March 10th, 2009 at 5:39 pmAccording to Wikipedia, the mormon cricket is a katydid, not a cicada. Order Orthoptera: katydids, grasshoppers, crickets… Order Hemiptera: cicadas, aphids, “true bugs,” leafhoppers…
March 10th, 2009 at 7:53 pmChocolate Jesus Says:
one really big insect related thing thats flying under most peoples radars is the dwindling number of honeybee colonies…bees play a vital part in our ecomsystem, they are responsible for helping to polinate many plants we depend on, and they are for some reason mysteriously dying out..
google: “plight of the bees” or something like that to find out more..
I took the liberty of repeating this because as an environmental science this issue is very close to my heart. The estimated cost of the services bees render to us (for a small stipend of pollen) is about 50 Billion USD
March 10th, 2009 at 7:58 pmJRULF Says:
Dude I have an entomology exam coming. How well do you know your bugs?
March 10th, 2009 at 8:00 pmQuestion: Why doesn’t McCain read each of the earmarks before posting them on twitter?
Answer: It’s too much trouble;bloviating is much more rewarding than knowing what you are b!t@h!ng about.
March 10th, 2009 at 8:00 pmWho gives an exam on only the hemiptera?
March 10th, 2009 at 8:10 pmA professor who wants you to know 55 different families of Hemipterans and the defining features of each.
March 10th, 2009 at 8:25 pmbrown acid: I did at one time know my insects well, especially taxonomy. But now I’m a grad student in Latin American literature! Not sure how that happened… It’s neat, though, encountering some of my entomological past in Spanish words such as “escarabajo,” which is the normal word for “beetle.” In any case, good luck on your exam! ¡Suerte!
March 10th, 2009 at 9:38 pmYeah, and fruit fly research. Who needs that? says Sarah Palin
March 10th, 2009 at 9:46 pmRemember the Medfly crisis? Mediterranean fruit flies decimated fruit crops and forced a quarantine for years
Where have the bees gone?.
Fruit flies are also very useful in genetic research.
Bug-brained Republicans have no use for science.
Megyn Kelly was, apparently, reared to be rude. She’s abrasive and has no patience for explanations that don’t hew to her warped world view.
March 10th, 2009 at 9:50 pmTHAT VICIOUS UGLY LIAR MEGYN KELLY SHE IS SO VINDICTIVE HAVE NEVER SEEN SUCH A DIRTY UGLY WOMAN LOOK AT THE BEAUTIFUL CALM CNN AND OTHER CHANNELS WOMEN SO CALM AND WE VIEWERS ARE SO RELAXED THIS UGLY WOMAN KELLY IS DESTROYING THE GOP SACK HER MAKE HER JOIN THE POOR JOBLESS PEOPLE OF BEAUTIFUL AMERICA
March 10th, 2009 at 10:31 pm“Mormon crickets” (Orthoptera) have nothing to do with cicadas (Hemiptera).
March 11th, 2009 at 3:58 amThank you pterophylla
March 11th, 2009 at 8:37 amThe writer of this article messed up when he/she called the Mormon cricket a type of cicada. Wrong!!!!
it is a type of katydid which is related to grasshoppers and crickets. NOT cicadas.
I guess the bug folks sleep in more than other folks.
#30 Great laugh, Cappy. Much Thanks!
March 11th, 2009 at 10:02 amMcCain continues to try and be relevant, but so far few, if any, are listening.
What is more amusing…he TWEETS…as he couldn’t use email before last year…and claimed to be unable to type (remember the war wounds), he has really progressed…as long as it is less than 140 characters! too funny!
March 11th, 2009 at 2:17 pmsaf-dece sghs aggATGH SesLi Chat-
March 11th, 2009 at 9:08 pm-SesLi sohbet–Kamerali sohbet-
blood1 Says:
McCain continues to try and be relevant, but so far few, if any, are listening.
What is more amusing…he TWEETS…as he couldn’t use email before last year…and claimed to be unable to type (remember the war wounds), he has really progressed…as long as it is less than 140 characters! too funny!
So it’s funny that a VET has war wounds. Right?
March 12th, 2009 at 9:42 amSome “earmarks” are very necessary. McCain and most of his friends are just to dense to realize that.
March 12th, 2009 at 1:59 pm*
mole troll alert!
**
March 27th, 2009 at 1:11 pm