Bed Bugs? We Need Federal Funding to Fight the War on Bed Bugs?

Last night I was reviewing a website called Washington Watch. It is a great website for keeping up on legislation being proposed in Congress. On the front page of the site was an unbelievable piece of legislative garbage:

H.R. 6068, The Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite Act of 2008

H.R. 6068 would create a grant program in the Department of Commerce and authorize $50,000,000 in each of fiscal years 2009 through 2012 for giving these grants to states.

I read that and did an involuntary Lewis Black style headshake.

$50,000,000 a year! To fight bedbugs?!

Someone put a lot of thought into this as you can read in the “Points In Favor” section. And bedbugs are a growing problem in America.

From the San Francisco Chronicle, circa 2007:

Nearly eradicated in the United States 50 years ago, resistant strains of “super” bedbugs are infesting mattresses at an alarming rate. In what’s being touted as the biggest mystery in entomology, all 50 states are reporting outbreaks of the blood-sucking nocturnal critters.

Pest control companies nationwide reported a 71 percent increase in bedbug calls between 2000 and 2005. Left alone, a few bedbugs can create a colony of thousands within weeks.

“We never treated bedbugs until 2002. Now we have a dedicated bedbug crew working on this every day,” said Luis Agurto, president of Pestec in San Francisco.

Agurto’s arsenal includes a vacuum, steam heat to cook the bedbug eggs and targeted spraying of insecticides. It takes three, eight-hour visits and about $500 to $750 to exterminate one room. A whole house would cost closer to $5,000.

So what is the cause of this bedbug comeback?

Experts say bedbugs are making a comeback because of increased global travel and a shift toward less-toxic pest control. As people are backing away from harsh chemicals and indoor spraying, the bugs are becoming increasingly resistant to the pesticides.

Maybe instead of raping the American taxpayer, we could actually use some chemicals that will kill the little buggers.

And there is the point made in the first paragraph in the “Points Against” section:

There is no constitutional authority for the federal government to address bedbugs. There is also no limit on what it might address if it can address bedbugs.

Game over. At least it should be. It seems that the bill has been sent to sub-committee, where it will hopefully die a necessary death. But the fact remains that someone who took the oath to support and defend the Constitution actually wrote this bill. What’s worse is that it has six co-sponsors.

Who wrote it? Rep. GK Butterfield of North Carolina. He’s a Democrat.

The Coconspirators:

• Rep. Steve Cohen, (D-TN)
• Rep. Doris O. Matsui, (D-CA)
• Rep. Edolphus Towns, (D-NY)
• Rep. William J. Jefferson, (D-LA)
• Rep. Donald M. Payne, (D-NJ)
• Rep. Don Young, (R-AK)

The sole Republican, Don Young, is no surprise. He is the RINO, along with Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), responsible for the “Bridge to Nowhere” fiasco.

Bedbugs may be a serious problem for America’s hotels and citizens, but there is no role for the federal government in fighting these nighttime pests. This bill shows the contempt our current Congress critters have for limited government. There is no issue too small for a government funding.