The two faces of Rep. David Obey

I could not help but get a kick out of reading both of these stories posted at WisPolitics. The stories are listed back to back. I am guessing the person listing these on WisPolitics on Dec. 29th probably got a little giggle too.

Check these out:

Obey's district benefits from new Federal Budget Bill (Obey regally announces millions upon millions of federal tax dollars in pork barrel spending for his neck of the woods)

Federal Aid for State Police Set to Decline in 2008 (Officials complain of draconian cuts to federal funding for state and local police. Obey blames Bush.)

In one breath, Congressman Obey makes this claim when it comes to federal funds for his district:

"The basic building blocks for community growth — like access to clean water, good roads, and efficient sewers — can cost taxpayers a lot. That's why I've worked with local officials throughout my district to ensure our local taxpayers get a hand in bearing those costs," said Obey, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

However, when local and state officials are asking for help in funding programs to keep Wisconsinites safe, apparently there just is not enough money to go around.

Don't blame Congressman Obey because according to him, he did the best he could and it is not his fault anyway:

Rep. Dave Obey (D-Wis.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said President Bush has cut local law enforcement programs in the past and "this year again made recommendations of more than $1 billion cuts."

"We restored some of the cuts, but he insisted on his total numbers because he wanted to pump every dollar into that stupid war in Iraq," Obey said.

It's all Bush's fault, according to Obey.

Well, golly gee wizz, how is it possible that Congressman Obey finds millions upon millions of dollars for his pet projects and cannot find any money to keep Wisconsinites safe?

Check out the millions of dollars Congressman Obey secured for his friends and pet projects:

The $7.872 million included in the Northern Wisconsin Environmental Assistance Program will go to help pay for needed improvements to water-related infrastructure in Ashland, Bayfield, Douglas and Iron counties.

The appropriation bill also includes $478,721 for the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians to rebuild a tribal health facility in Odanah that was destroyed by fire.

The bill also includes a total of $1.715 million to assist Bayfield County in improving County Highway "C".

Congressman Obey managed to swipe $10,065,721 worth of Federal tax dollars for these three projects along.

By the way, the Northern Wisconsin Environmental Assistance Program was created by David Obey himself in order to siphon millions of dollars in taxpayer money to benefit the four counties in his district- Ashland, Bayfield, Douglas and Iron counties.

To date, Congressman Obey has pilfered $26,000,000 in federal taxpayer funds to give to his group.

That is a quite a sweet deal for his buddies.

I wonder how many of these buddies donate to Obey's campaign?

That would be an interesting fact to find out.

But hey, when local and state police are asking for federal assistance to aid programs that are actually working, Obey blames Bush, perfectly pandering to his anti war buddies.

Amazingly, Obey found over $10 million to give to his pet projects, but cannot find another $4 million to help state and local police.

Like a typical two faced politician, Congressman David Obey accepts the accolades for bringing the pork back to HIS district, but does not have the courage to accept the criticism and immediately points the finger of blame to someone else.

There is no sense in questioning Congressman David Obey on his two faced approach to governing.

Congressman Obey is as full of lame excuses as a dieter who continues to order pizza because pizza includes all four food groups.