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Pelosi’s Office: Conservative Talking Point About $30 Million For Mice Is “Fabrication”

Is there really $30 million in the new stimulus package devoted to saving the salt marsh mouse in Nancy Pelosi’s district?

That’s what some conservatives are now charging, and the claim seems to be gaining some traction with elected GOP officials and conservative media outlets, who are using it to argue that the bill is stuffed with Dem pork.

But there isn’t any such money in the bill. And Pelosi’s office is saying that the claim is a “total fabrication.”

How did this one get going? Yesterday a House Republican leadership staffer circulated a background email, which I obtained, charging that GOP staffers had been told by an unnamed Federal agency that if it got money from the stim package, it would spend “thirty million dollars for wetland restoration in the San Francisco Bay Area — including work to protect the Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse.”

The GOP staffer’s email didn’t say what agency it was. It didn’t say the money was actually in the package — just that an unnamed agency had said they would spend it on that if they got it.

But conservatives picked up the claim and began stating as fact that the mouse money was in the bill. On Fox News yesterday, Mike Huckabee blasted the bill for containing money for Pelosi’s mouse, and today GOP Rep Dan Lundgren hammered the alleged mouse money in the bill as “absurd.” Today’s Washington Times ran with a story called: “Pelosi’s mouse slated for $30M slice of cheese.”

But I just contacted the House GOP staffer who wrote the initial email laying out this talking point, and he conceded that the claim by conservative media that the mouse money is currently in the bill is a misstatement. “There is not specific language in the legislation for this project,” he said.

The staffer held to the claim that the mouse money would ultimately be spent, however, arguing that the bill’s passage would ensure that money would ultimately go to the unnamed agency. “If the bill passes, the project will be funded according to what the relevant agency told our staff,” he said. “The bottom line is, if this bill becomes law, taxpayers will spend 30 million on the mouse.”

But Pelosi’s staff disputes even this point, arguing that the only projects being referred to here are federal wetland restoration projects — and that this wasn’t even Pelosi’s project to begin with, despite claims about “Pelosi’s mouse.”

“There are no federal wetland restoration projects in line to get funded in San Francisco,” Pelosi spkesperson Drew Hammill said. “Neither the Speaker nor her staff have had any involvement in this initiative. The idea that $30 million will be spent to save mice is a total fabrication.”

More on this soon…

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Posted by Greg Sargent | 02/12/2009, 01:27 PM EST | Categories: House Dems, House Republicans, stimulus package

98 Responses

  1. CT Voter | February 12th, 2009 at 01:43 pm

    They have no scruples. I’m surprised by the fact that I’m still surprised by the utter disengenuousness of Republicans.

  2. mikey | February 12th, 2009 at 01:46 pm

    I think conservatives are forgetting we know how to navigate “the Googles” much better than them and we can find the truth out.

  3. Danp | February 12th, 2009 at 01:47 pm

    Did the unnamed GOP staffer tell you why the unnamed agency was unnamed? I may have to alert Glenn Greenwald here. :)

  4. Seeryer | February 12th, 2009 at 01:48 pm

    Another swing and miss from conservatives. These people have now turned into the conspiracy theorists they used to mock the left about.

  5. MobiusKlein | February 12th, 2009 at 01:54 pm

    Checking out the Wikipedia’s info about the salt marsh mouse – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Marsh_Harvest_Mouse , it’s not clear that any still live in Pelosi’s district proper.

    Salt water marshes in San Francisco City have mostly been filled in already. SF Bay >> Pelosi’s district.

    Then I’ll get started talking about how preserving & restoring habitat is about more than any one species, but keeping an ecosystem working.

  6. carlo | February 12th, 2009 at 01:57 pm

    My question is why would a Senator or Congressman use this as a talking point? It shows that they haven’t read the package, which makes you wonder what have they been opposing exactly.

  7. Bored George | February 12th, 2009 at 01:58 pm

    And so what if there is an actual wetlands restoration project that will benefit the Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse? It’s almost certain that the new jobs related to the project will go to humans, not mice.

  8. mk3872 | February 12th, 2009 at 01:58 pm

    My Gosh, the right-wing media echo chamber is amazing in its ability to quickly and effectively disseminate ANYTHING!!

  9. cervantes | February 12th, 2009 at 01:59 pm

    The problem is that lying works. The corporate media won’t debunk this story, they won’t even fact check it. The dittoheads will believe it and there won’t be any repercussions for making **** up. Our political culture favors the most ruthless liars, and has for quite a while.

  10. OGLiberal | February 12th, 2009 at 02:02 pm

    Of course, both Drudge and Halperin were (and are) all over this, repeating GOP talking points.

  11. jackfish | February 12th, 2009 at 02:08 pm

    I think more are paying attention to the Wicked Witch of the West blowing up at Reid about PORKULUS

  12. Beth in VA | February 12th, 2009 at 02:11 pm

    Salt marsh restoration creates jobs, helps the environment, and is completely stimulus. What’s wrong with protecting the salt marsh harvest mouse? People have destroyed its habitat for centuries. It’s just a mouse, let it live! A healthy marsh means a healthy Bay, and that means good, clean healthy fish for people to eat!

  13. JohnW1141 | February 12th, 2009 at 02:11 pm

    The “leaker” from the ‘unnamed agency’ may be one of the cretins Bush embedded in a number of Government agencies just before he left office.

  14. agio | February 12th, 2009 at 02:15 pm

    Even if it is a lie, $30 million to save an endangered species of mouse is a bargain compared to $597,000,000,000 to realize a failed neocon fantasy in Mesopotamia.

  15. AmiBlue | February 12th, 2009 at 02:20 pm

    CT voter, You took the words out of my mouth. And it’s almost impossible not to admire their talent for making things up and making people believe their lies. They obviously miss their calling as professional storytellers or novelists.

  16. nitpicker | February 12th, 2009 at 02:21 pm

    The usual Republican argument: “Let’s not argue over what’s true or not true. Just because we made something up doesn’t mean we shouldn’t argue against it!”

  17. JohnW1141 | February 12th, 2009 at 02:25 pm

    Years ago in one of the Carolinas, I think South Carolina, developers wanted to develope the beaches but there was a certain mouse that lived there and its habitat would have been destroyed. The area and its beaches were a gold mine to the state for vacationers, tourists and its own citizens.
    The developer lost to the mouse.

    It seems the mouse buries certain seeds from sea oats and and these seeds produce vegetation which help keep the sand together and helped with creating dunes which protected both the beaches from beach erosion and the homes built just inland from storm surges and hurricanes. There’s a symbiotic relationship between the mouse, the beaches and the dunes, and South Carolinians benefit.

    Now I hate to throw ice water on the Limbaugh dittoheads for this but there might be a larger story to the “Pelosi mouse” than meets the eye.

  18. JT | February 12th, 2009 at 02:26 pm

    A rhetorically interesting choice of (alleged) “pet projects” for the Republicans to invent:

    The word “mouse” has feminine connotations in several European languages: Swedish “mus” is slang for ******; the diminutive “Mäuschen” is a term of endearment for a small child (male or female) in German. And the vulgar “snatch mouse” means tampon in Britain.

    I doubt the Republicans have any of the above in mind, but the underlying sense of the allegation is that there is something wimpy and feminine about this bogus “pet” project, about Pelosi (who as a woman is a target for the usual Republican misogyny), and, by extension, about the Democrats in general, with their allegedly “girly” and sentimental concern for nature.

  19. Faceplant | February 12th, 2009 at 02:28 pm

    Morning Joe perpetuated this one this morning as well. Scarborough said something akin to, “I. am. OUTRAGED. Nancy. Pelosi. is. ruining. this. country.” Then Miza Brzzzzzinski tightened her lips, rolled her eyes and said something like, “Oh, stop. I have to read the news. Stop. Ok, come to mommy,” as she stared into the camera shaking her head. And Mike Barnicle yukked it up in the corner because he thinks Joe is just hilllllaaaarrrrious. And Willie Geist prepared to hold up another newspaper. Then Joe told a story from 1994. Annnnd scene. Outrage, moralizing, repeat. Why hasn’t SNL parodied this crack team of goons?

  20. JT | February 12th, 2009 at 02:30 pm

    Wow, who would have thought this site would have censored the “V” word? The ****** in my earlier comment is Va***a, as in “Monologues.”

  21. Danp | February 12th, 2009 at 02:34 pm

    JT – Thanks for explaining. I thought you were maybe using a much more vulgar word.

  22. jnisa | February 12th, 2009 at 02:40 pm

    Joe Scarborough was bloviating about this on Morning Joe today. Let’s see if he corrects this misinformation tomorrow. (Hint: don’t hold your breath). Is there no journalistic requirement any longer to verify stories before going on and on? It is a disgrace!

  23. William | February 12th, 2009 at 02:41 pm

    I guess this shows just how dazed and confused the GOP
    is right now. No plan of their own, so attack the people who
    are trying fix the mess King George left behind.

  24. JimBob | February 12th, 2009 at 02:43 pm

    This is why Bushies “burrow in” — so they can be the “unnamed staffers” who spread garbage like this from within government instead of trying it from outside government where they belong.

  25. Jaycubed | February 12th, 2009 at 02:44 pm

    I think conservatives are forgetting we know how to navigate “the Googles” much better than them and we can find the truth out.
    Posted by: mikey

    If you don’t care about external reality, only internal Truths matter.

  26. DickTater | February 12th, 2009 at 02:45 pm

    Really folks, this is the only thing rightwingers/Corporatists have. They own the media. It is no small thing, but it is really all they have.

    No small thing because for 40-60 years, if the Mainstream Media doesn’t tell you about it, it didn’t happen. If they DO tell you about it, it did happen…..whether it did or not. If they tell you about it enough, which is really the only thing they are good at, then EVERYONE knows it happened….whether it did or not.

    They are the gatekeepers of information for our society. And they have had the Information Mouthpieces all to themselves for many decades. And they are owned and controlled by huge Conglomerate COrporations. Republicans are wholly owned and subsidized by Corporations, not real people. Corporations stole our public airwaves long ago, and have known what a powerful weapon it is. Turned on us (against us) like a firehose. Esp. in it’s old legacy format as ONE WAY communication. THEY TELL US and WE LISTEN. End of transaction….that is until they TELL US AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN.

    So, let’s summarize. Huge corporations steal our airwaves and use the most powerful tool known to humans (mass communications) to brainwash us 24/7 with their Corporate mantra. And Corporo-Republicans have a complete political stranglehold on the firehose being aimed at us. Dems have zilch.
    Corporations have ZERO incentive to air stories about corporate malfeasance. Zero incentive to investigate the huge crimes of our day. Zero incentive to work on behalf of the citizen. Zero incentive to air corrections. Zero incentive to air a Dem’s viewpoint. They do have all the incentive in the world to air republican, corporate, buy buy buy, go back to sleep messages, and to sweep everything unseemly under the rug. And there is plenty of it to sweep.

  27. Ellen Ededman | February 12th, 2009 at 02:46 pm

    Stop your hate.
    My younger brother died (as in dead) from bad health care from an Emergency room. My older brother is alive, without a job., at home with 3 kids. We are white, working-class Americans. Please stop your hate. Our country doesn’t need it…

  28. Tena | February 12th, 2009 at 02:50 pm

    Wow, who would have thought this site would have censored the “V” word? The ****** in my earlier comment is Va***a, as in “Monologu

    I’m considering bringing back l33+ to get around the censor. I’ve found that spelling some things phonetically works.

    But I’m with you when it comes to a medical term that is a precise definition of a body part, for all love!

  29. Tena | February 12th, 2009 at 02:51 pm

    Stop your hate.

    What hate, darlin? I’m sorry for your troubles – I have ‘em too. Don’t see much hatin around here, though – so I wonder what the hell you’re talking about?

  30. midwestern elitist | February 12th, 2009 at 02:54 pm

    the not so grand ole party is about run it’s course in history! info is free and available to the public and should remain so….this all means death to the GOP!!!
    thank God!

  31. Tena | February 12th, 2009 at 02:55 pm

    Anybody remember Sarah Palin making fun of fruit fly scientific research? And it turns out that research using fruit flies has been very beneficial to people with Down’s Syndrome, like that accessory/baby of hers?

    The Right loves like anything to make fun of anything related to science. It’s obvious they don’t have any respect for science – more than half of them don’t believe in it – they believe the bible, instead. Oy!

  32. pmb28 | February 12th, 2009 at 03:02 pm

    Don’t you love all the conservative media outlets admiration on reporting stories that are never based on facts? They live for this phony journalism. What vile embarrassments. Heres an idea how about reading the bill

  33. Dale Peterson | February 12th, 2009 at 03:08 pm

    Joe and company joked endlessly on MSNBC this morning about the mouse, as part of their tiresome negativity about the stimulus package. I wonder if they’ll repeat a retraction endlessly tomorrow.

  34. Tena | February 12th, 2009 at 03:08 pm

    They live for this phony journalism.

    Hey, Drudge and Limbaugh are the Right’s go-to guys – and neither one of them would recognize the truth if it walked up and gave them both a big wet kiss, with tongue.

  35. sgwhiteinfla | February 12th, 2009 at 03:09 pm

    This was topic number one on Morning Joe this morning and I just knew it was made up simply because Scarborough was sooooooooooo sure that it was true. I swear man like I said, what we REALLY need is some liberal/progressive talking heads that are willing to lie steal and cheat to combat the **** the GOP/FoxNews/Joe Scarborough put out there for public consumption. I know it sounds messed up but seriously I think you have to fight fire with fire. And maybe if we had some people claiming falsehoods about the Republicans then the coverage would start to even out. As it stands we are handcuffed because for some odd reason we actually believe in truth, justice and the American way.
    .
    Go figure

  36. Tena | February 12th, 2009 at 03:15 pm

    Go figure

    I feel you, but consider this – despite the media and it’s love affair with the Republicans and with Bush, the voters figured it out and turned around and elected Barack Hussein Obama our first black president.

    Things are not nearly as bad as they could be, all things considered. ;)

  37. sgwhiteinfla | February 12th, 2009 at 03:17 pm

    Tena
    .
    I agree, but I also know my history. And the truth is people spent so much time spraining their shoulders patting themselves on the back after Clinton got elected in 92 that all of a sudden they looked up and the Rethugs had retaken Congress two years later. I don’t want that to happen again. In point of fact I want to step on their necks. And we have to be better about pushing our agenda out for public consumption and having our own version of fight the smears like President Obama had during the campaign.

  38. Tena | February 12th, 2009 at 03:29 pm

    after Clinton got elected in 92 that all of a sudden they looked up and the Rethugs had retaken Congress two years later.

    I hear that. I don’t want Obama to fail and I’m prepared to help keep that from happening in any way I can.

    And we have to be better about pushing our agenda out for public consumption and having our own version of fight the smears like President Obama had during the campaign.

    I agree with this, but I think Obama already figured it out. That’s why he went into campaign mode to sell this directly to the public and bypass the stupid media.

    That’s what they did in the campaign – they took everything right to us and bypassed the media in a big way, especially at the beginning. I think they have the key to dealing with the mess that is our media. I really do.

  39. anonymiss | February 12th, 2009 at 03:48 pm

    I’m sorry, but in the past 3 days, the leading reasons for Republicans to oppose the stimulus–the mouse and the communist plot of water flouridation, sorry, healthcare IT, have both been completely made up.

    What’s really behind Republican opposition to this bill? It’s not what’s in the bill.

    It’s the Taliban wing of the Republican party that’s totally convinced the only way they can win is by keeping Obama from doing anything successful. The political strategy they’ve decided upon is that they need to make him as failed a President as George Bush.

    They’re just making up things about this bill because they don’t care what’s really in it. They just need to keep Republicans from supporting it, so they’re making stuff up. It’s a miserable cop-out of their job as elected officials.

  40. kls | February 12th, 2009 at 04:00 pm

    $30 million out of $800 billion? I guess the big picture boys gave up trying to figure out how many additional QUARTS of imported oil we need, now that Obama’s jackboot-thug Salazar declared the Grand Canyon and Mt. Rushmore off limits.

    We can only hope they don’t notice the ban on fishing with dynamite at Crater Lake that some liberal slipped in in the middle of the night behind closed doors after all the phony talk about hope and bipartisanship that turned out to be just another stealth Secular/Muslim assault in the long line of endless atheist assaults on all Christians but especially hard working real American white Christians andthe mothers of special needs Christian children.

  41. F. Wingood | February 12th, 2009 at 04:04 pm

    Scarborough will NEVER acknowledge that his spiel is wrong….never. He will ramble on and on….tell Mika when to shutup….and keep iterating the same tale. Don’t look for the truth there…it ain’t happening.

  42. Jay Severin Has A Small Pen1s | February 12th, 2009 at 04:07 pm

    Good think it wasn’t the titmouse. The religious right would be screaming about obscenity and indecency. Bill O’Reilly and Hannity would rant and rave about San Francisco values and how Bill Clinton must be involved because Monica Lewinsky had large breasts.

  43. Daniel Prendergast | February 12th, 2009 at 04:08 pm

    Misinformation is the prime weapon of the wingnuts.
    The mainstream media reports the lies as truth because these outlets are owned by Republicans. If you want to fight fire with fire, buy stock in the media and show up at the stockholder meetings and raise hell. You might even get a story out of it.

  44. Edward | February 12th, 2009 at 04:12 pm

    Not sure if I’m adding anything of value here, but I want to note that the Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse is famous from an old Saturday Night Live routine, John Belushi talking about how March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb in the US, but behaves differently in different countries. Was on the official SNL comedy album back in the seventies.

    I sure am old, to remember this.

    Is probably why some GOPer used this particular mouse as an example, remembering it himself from an old comedy routine.

  45. Tena | February 12th, 2009 at 04:21 pm

    s probably why some GOPer used this particular mouse as an example, remembering it himself from an old comedy routine.

    LOL! That’s too funny.

    [you may be old enough to remember it, but you remember it. I'm old enough and I don't remember it! :) ]

  46. Jay Ballou | February 12th, 2009 at 04:41 pm

    “thirty million dollars for wetland restoration in the San Francisco Bay Area — including work to protect the Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse.”

    Doesn’t ANYONE know what the word “included” means? They could spend just 1 cent of the $30 million on protecting the mice and the above statement would still be true. Sheesh.

  47. Jay Ballou | February 12th, 2009 at 04:43 pm

    “I sure am old, to remember this.”

    Nah, it’s in reruns.

  48. Jay Ballou | February 12th, 2009 at 04:47 pm

    “Stop your hate.”

    Uh, Ellen, who are you talking to, and about what?

  49. DV | February 12th, 2009 at 04:51 pm

    Quite the hilarious liberal 0rgy in here

  50. Tena | February 12th, 2009 at 04:54 pm

    Quite the hilarious liberal 0rgy in here

    Ooooo – that was wicked witty, dood!

  51. DV | February 12th, 2009 at 04:54 pm

    hahahahahahahahaha let the hate rain children

  52. April | February 12th, 2009 at 04:55 pm

    Like I’d ever believe ANYTHING a Democrat tells me. They lie every waking moment of their lives and would sell their mother’s soul to the devil if they could make money off it or get something they want. Obama has been in office less than one month and yet it feels like nearly a year. He’s a one termer, if that. Impeachment is coming for Obama — I can feel it! He wasn’t born in the US!

  53. Sondra | February 12th, 2009 at 05:11 pm

    What about this one which someone just sent me?

    Windfall Tax on Retirement Income

    Adding a tax to your retirement is simply another way of saying to the American people, you’re so darn stupid that we’re going to keep doing this until we drain every cent from you. That’s what the Speaker of the House is saying. Read below…

    Nancy Pelosi wants a Windfall Tax on Retirement Income. In other words tax what you have made by investing toward your retirement. This woman
    is a nut case. You aren’t going to believe this.

    Madam Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to put a Windfall Tax on all stock market profits (including Retirement fund, 401K and Mutual Funds. Alas, it is true – all to help the 12 Million Illegal Immigrants and other unemployed minorities.

    This woman is frightening!
    She quotes: “We need to work toward the goal of equalizing income, (didn’t Marx say something like this?) in our country and at the same time limiting the amount the rich can invest.” (I am not rich, are you?)

    When asked how these new tax dollars would be spent, she replied:
    “We need to raise the standard of living of our poor, unemployed and minorities. For example, we have an estimated 12 million illegal
    immigrants in our country who need our help along with millions of unemployed minorities. Stock market windfall profits taxes could go a long way to guarantee these people the standard of living they would like to have as ‘Americans’.”

    Read that quote again and again and let it sink in. “Lower your retirement, give it to others who have not worked as you have for it”.

    This woman is out of her mind … and she is the Speaker of the House, third in line for the Presidency of the United States.

  54. Tena | February 12th, 2009 at 05:24 pm

    Wow Greg, you sure have attracted the trolls.

    How did we manage to keep them down to a dull roar at TPM?

  55. Tena | February 12th, 2009 at 05:45 pm

    his woman is out of her mind … and she is the Speaker of the House, third in line for the Presidency of the United States.

    Such a shame that the majority of Americans think y’all are crazy, not the Speaker or the President or the rest of us – just y’all.

    :)

  56. Tena | February 12th, 2009 at 05:48 pm

    O, and sweetheart – you got a link to back up that wholly spurious claim that Speaker Pelosi wants to tax everyone’s retirement?

    You can’t just post something like that with no source to back it up and expect to be taken seriously.

  57. ernieson | February 12th, 2009 at 05:59 pm

    This one is like the allegations that the family planning part of the stimulus bill was for contraceptives for foreigners. DISTORTIONS WITHOUT FACTS ARE THE REPUBLICANS’ MODUS OPERANDI.

  58. wetlandsARElife | February 12th, 2009 at 06:34 pm

    Wetlands absorb flood waters, remove pollution from the water, remove CO2 from the air, provide recreational opportunities (yes, on SF Bay) and are habitat to many species of plants, migratory birds, nurseries for fish etc. All of these have economic value for people in addition to the restoration jobs they can create. The way our EPA is set up is we have to have an endangered species as a mascott to get funding for ecosystems, in this case it is a mouse. We’ve destroyed 90% of SF Bay’s wetlands. We can’t afford any more.

  59. Stan Dintsley | February 12th, 2009 at 06:45 pm

    So how much money is Pelosi getting for pet projects in California?

  60. MobiusKlein | February 12th, 2009 at 07:27 pm

    How much for projects in California? Since we have ~10% of us population, perhaps a round 10% of the stimulus spending?

  61. June | February 12th, 2009 at 08:52 pm

    Where is the money coming from for this stimulus package? That’s something I haven’t heard anyone say. We are in debt, so are we going to borrow the money, print the money with nothing to back it up, or is it going to come from our taxes?

  62. Texas Aggie | February 12th, 2009 at 10:07 pm

    As for where the money may be coming from, I saw an analysis that showed that closing the off-shore loophole, putting upper level taxes back where they were before Bush raped the treasury, and closing another loophole that I forget would return $600 billion which brings us pretty close to amount in the stimulus. Then if you reduce Pentagon spending on failing weapons systems that should get us over the hump.

  63. Rev Stan | February 12th, 2009 at 10:36 pm

    As of 5 pm this afternoon, House Republicans were still going to town on the “Pelosi mouse” talking point. Perhaps I am ignorant of House procedures, but there weren’t any Democrats there to rebut the mouse thing. It was one Repub after another attacking the stimulus bill and citing the $30 million mouse allegation.

  64. jzap | February 13th, 2009 at 12:28 am

    $30M equals 10¢ per person.
    .
    Bruddah, can ya spare a dime?

  65. TK | February 13th, 2009 at 12:44 am

    I read the blogs from both sides. (R & D). And, research both sides. What I’ve determined is both sides have lost the ability to govern this country. NONE of the people responding to both this and the DIDO HEAD sites has done much research. Wetlands restoration WON’T creat many jobs and The DIDO HEADS only THINK they know what is in the bill. I feel bad realizing I sacrificed an arm in a war to defend such poorly informed idiots as Pelosi, Reid, Limbaugh, and the rest.

  66. The Oracle | February 13th, 2009 at 01:19 am

    Aaaah, Count Porkulus, aka Rush Limbaugh, strikes again.

  67. MobiusKlein | February 13th, 2009 at 02:00 am

    Don’t scoff at wetlands restoration, folks. Many biologist feel that well functioning wetlands can reduce mosquito populations. http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/reg/mosquitoes.pdf
    There is a whole clump of documents discussing issues like this, that folks who actually know what they are talking about discuss.
    http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=wetlands+restoration+mosquito

    And you all should also know that West Nile Virus, transmitted by mosquitos,is on the rise in the San Francisco Bay Area. May not matter to you, but some of us care.

    Perhaps you also didn’t know that the SFBay is a major stop for migratory birds. Folks who do game hunting would certainly like to have those ecosystems continue, not shrink.

    It’s just too easy to har-har at some stupid rat on national TV.

  68. tanstaafl | February 13th, 2009 at 02:14 am

    TK, your condemnation of both sides would be a lot more impressive if you shared some of your “research” that shows wetlands restoration won’t create many jobs. Links please.

    I have no idea what kinds of work the unnamed source at the unnamed federal agency quoted by the as yet publicly unidentified House GOP staffer wants to fund with the stimulus measure.

    Logically, if wetlands restoration included buying up damaged wetlands, that would employ relatively few people for the money spent and not be very stimulative. The same would be true of buying up water rights to replace water that has been diverted away from a wetlands.

    On the other hand, hiring people to remove litter or structures from a damaged wetland, replant appropriate vegetation, restore natural water flows by removing culverts and drainage ditches and so on might create quite a few jobs.

  69. MobiusKlein | February 13th, 2009 at 02:27 am

    Drat, I made an insightful post about mosquito control and wetlands restoration, but the site ate it.

    I’ll just say, I’m against dieing of West Nile Virus – and restored wetlands have fewer mosquitos, if done right

  70. azportsider | February 13th, 2009 at 04:56 am

    Does anyone else appreciate the irony of the GOPers lying like this on the 200th birthday of their predecessor, “Honest Abe Lincoln?”

  71. BA | February 13th, 2009 at 08:06 am

    You folks are hilarious. “the right wing controls the media.” Now that’s just funny. Keep in mind this is coming from someone who finds himself stuck in the middle with no one representing him. If you pay close attention the above author does state that in fact $30 mil will be spent on the mouse project. It may not state that exactly word for word in the bill, but the money will be spent nonetheless. So its not a lie, just a stretch. Both parties and the media are famous for that.
    Now is this really going to create new jobs, or just give existing employees work. Legitimate question.
    My bottom line concern is that Congress has WAY too much power. There needs to minimal oversight in certain areas and other than that, the gov. needs to just get out of the way. I don’t like to use the “S” word, but we are truly headed in that direction. Any time the gov. sees something wrong with an industry, they take it over and begin to run it. Is this truly what we want? Perfect example, FedEx makes millions of dollars a day, while the Post Office continues to lose money. Why do you think that is????

  72. Emilio | February 13th, 2009 at 10:24 am

    Every Repug is a either a liar, a hypocrite, or a lying hypocrite. Those people are congenital in their fear and loathing of other human beings, and should not be despised, as they cannot help themselves, it’s just the way they are wired. They must be treated the way a serpent handler treats a dangerous viper, which cannot help its behavior because of the way it’s wired. These destructive people ought to be marooned on some distant planet where they can be far away from constructive people who are seeking to improve their lives and the health of their planet.

  73. Chris | February 13th, 2009 at 11:55 am

    Of course, the point of wasteful spending is still valid. This is a STIMULUS bill. It is meant to create jobs, boost spending and help the economy. Federal wetland spending does not help anyone except whatever animal (mice included) finds itself in the way of such needless benevolence.

  74. Jessica | February 13th, 2009 at 12:09 pm

    “There is not specific language in the legislation for this project,” he said. (Read between the fine lines) Everything is worded differently in this bill. Have you looked at it? I tried, its 1500 pages, of BS!

  75. Billie R.Paxton | February 13th, 2009 at 12:35 pm

    Why would 30 million to save a mouse be a surprise? The entire timber industry in Washington State was destroyed because of false information given by liberals about the Spotted Owl – it was endangered, could only live in mature forest, etc. After the timber industry was destroyed, taking over 30,000 jobs with it; SURPRISE, SURPRISE – a thriving population of Spotted Owls was “found” in second growth woodlands.

  76. Rose | February 13th, 2009 at 12:40 pm

    Every Dimorat is a either a liar, a hypocrite, or a lying hypocrite. Those people are congenital in their fear and loathing of other human beings, and should not be despised, as they cannot help themselves, it’s just the way they are wired. They must be treated the way a serpent handler treats a dangerous viper, which cannot help its behavior because of the way it’s wired. These destructive people ought to be marooned on some distant planet where they can be far away from constructive people who are seeking to improve their lives and the health of their planet.

  77. MobiusKlein | February 13th, 2009 at 01:01 pm

    For the love of Pete, this ‘mouse’ business is not first habitat restoration, nor the last in the SF Bay.

    I can think of a multitude of such projects around the city and bay. Folks volunteer each and every weekend to go out and pick up trash, yank weeds, dig, and make trails in these places. The area has beach dunes, marshlands, forests, grassy hills, creeks, and tide pools, all connected to habitat restoration & preservation.

    All this costs money. Buying the land so that it does not get developed costs money. Removing the trash costs money. But it gets results. Part of the reason that San Francisco is not a desolate urban wasteland is these efforts to protect, preserve, and restore the green lands around it. And it pays off, since SF is a major tourist destination, believe it or not.

    P.S. It’s not just about one mouse species, really. think Ecosystem.

  78. Evan | February 13th, 2009 at 02:44 pm

    Unfortunately, my city of San Francisco doesn’t really have much left in the way in Marshland. So try as they might, this money wouldn’t be going to Pelosi’s district. It’s more likely it would head down the bay, to CD-14 or 15.

  79. Wil Burns | February 13th, 2009 at 05:53 pm

    The entire timber industry in Washington State was destroyed because of false information given by liberals about the Spotted Owl – it was endangered, could only live in mature forest, etc. After the timber industry was destroyed, taking over 30,000 jobs with it.
    Posted by: Billie R.Paxton

    Machinery killed those 30,000 jobs!

  80. Wil Burns | February 13th, 2009 at 05:57 pm

    When Bush assumed power, America’s biggest problems were:

    How do we best spend the Clinton budget surplus?

    Now?

  81. Jaycubed | February 13th, 2009 at 06:36 pm

    “After the timber industry was destroyed. . .
    Posted by: Billie R.Paxton”

    The timber industry in Washington was impacted exactly the same as the timber industry in California, and for exactly the same reason. . . Corporate Capitalism.

    The timber companies which owned the private timber lands were bought with Junk Bonds by investors so their “undervalued assets”, the timber lands that many of those companies had properly forested for generations, could be devastated for fast cash.

    The “destruction” of the Timber industry had nothing to do with environmentalism, and everything to do with American Business’ greed & short-sightedness (& incompetent fire management.)

  82. Kathy, Bethlehem, Pa | February 13th, 2009 at 09:41 pm

    Is Pelosi kidding, my monthly medication, required, is over 1,000. a month, any sympathy from Dems……NO….and they want me to care about a RAT, and the salt water mouse…..she must be kidding, or is she doing “stand up”? and I am deeply embarrassed to have Spector as a
    “representative”.

  83. Charles | February 13th, 2009 at 09:51 pm

    To all those that hate conservatives, take notice you have less then 2 years to enjoy you new found money. Pray to God that this pork bill does not blow up in your face. Because you are gone for a very very very long time.

  84. daniel d | February 14th, 2009 at 12:15 am

    the Sahara desert had wetland’s at one time. an we human’s were not even there to take the blame.
    so please tell me why were going to spend 30 million on a swamp when we could fix a lot more practical thing’s.
    we could always come back to it later . feed the people first!!!

    what mouse?

  85. tanstaafl | February 14th, 2009 at 08:53 am

    It’s amazing the way the know-nothing trolls came out in force toward the end of this thread.
    Kathy, there is NO language about spending money on a mouse in this bill. IF (I repeat IF) the $30 million does get spent on that project, it will be because the agency in question decided it was appropriate, NOT because of Speaker Pelosi.
    Daniel, the Sahara has been gradually growing and shrinking for millions of years. The key word being “gradually”. Human activity can change things faster than surrounding systems can adapt. Rehabilitating a wetland can easily be cheaper than find alternative ways of dealing with the pollution filtering and stormwater buffering functions the wetland provides. And of course, Republicans are LYING about this being a part of the stimulus bill.

  86. Dale | February 14th, 2009 at 11:49 am

    no one ever went broke betting on the stupidity of the right.

  87. bob | February 14th, 2009 at 12:16 pm

    I am anti-abortion, but after reading all the posts above, maybe
    Nobama has it right. Your parents should have aborted you poor mixed up liberals.

  88. orangutan | February 14th, 2009 at 01:23 pm

    Bob: That is such a thoughtful and well-reasoned contribution to the debate. Thank you.

    Dale: Your contribution was great, too.

  89. June | February 14th, 2009 at 04:18 pm

    How does everyone feel about a bill that is passed without anyone reading it all the way through? What would a few extra days to give everyone voting a chance to read the bill thoroughly have hurt? I’m still concerned as to where all this money is coming from.

  90. Jhoffa_ | February 14th, 2009 at 06:53 pm

    This article is a lie.

    I found it on page 57, spending side.

    See “California-Delta restoration act.”

    FIFTY MILLION BUCKS..

  91. MobiusKlein | February 16th, 2009 at 01:16 am

    JHoffa_, you may please consult a map, the delta is far away from the SFBay, and the habitat of said mouse.

    And you may also learn more about the delta, and how it has it’s own set of problems, levees, residents, and all that deserve protection.
    And yes, endangered species that merit protection. But not that mouse. Check the wikipedia entry, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Marsh_Harvest_Mouse and notice that it’s not found in the delta.

  92. Nowhere Man | February 17th, 2009 at 03:15 pm

    Sondra, I’m sure you won’t see this, but that Pelosi quote was debunked more than two years ago.

    Your correspondent apparently didn’t provide you with any links, but I will: http://www.snopes.com/politics/pelosi/windfall.asp

  93. carolyn dugan | February 17th, 2009 at 11:19 pm

    My God, you all are so stupid. There are kids out there hungry,and sleeping in cars and you want to spend this money on a Mouse. Wake Up

  94. JAY JOHN | February 20th, 2009 at 03:46 pm

    I have not read the stimulus bill , like many others have not, but
    my opion is that it is something that pelosi would do. Even when
    america is facing an economic crisis. Look at the junket she and
    and others took to italy on the taxpayers.

  95. MELANIE | February 23rd, 2009 at 04:23 pm

    What’s wrong with protecting the mouse??? Do you think they need 30 Million Dollars when you have people starving in AMERICA??? Soon we are going to be so poor that we will only have “CHANGE” in our pockets. We will be eatting these mice to stay alive!!!!!
    30 Million my A$$!!!! How does this sound???????

    MARSH MOUSE FRIED RICE!!!!!

    MARSH MOUSE KABOB!!!!!!

    MARSH MOUSE NOODLE SOUP!!!!

    MC~MARSH MOUSE BIG MACK!!!!!

    MARSH MOUSE TAIL FRIES!!!!!!

    MARSH MOUSE SHEPARDS PIE!!!!

    MARSH MOUSE ROAST!!!!!!

  96. Fishing Gear | April 24th, 2009 at 09:27 pm

    Didn’t know about it. Very nice information. Submitted this post to Google News Reader.

  97. Big Boob Videos | June 17th, 2009 at 04:51 pm

    Finally, the answers that I was looking for! Cheers mate.

  98. Maricela | July 20th, 2009 at 09:14 pm

    Why is Republican Steve King still speaking about this subject on Today’s C-SPan on an Open Forum knocking down the Health Care Reform? If this earmark is a fabrication, then the public needs to call the Republicans on their childness (putting it politely).

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