I see the Citizens Against Government Waste have again released the Pig Book, their annual list of barn sides to fire rounds at:
A watchdog group critical of pork barrel spending released its latest findings Wednesday targeting the top Congressional "porkers."
Some of the pork projects, according to the group, include a Lobster Institute; the Rocky Flats, Colorado, Cold War Museum; and the First Tee, a program to build young people's character through golf.
Members of Congress requested funds for all these pet projects and thousands of others last year, according to the latest copy of the annual "Pig Book" released by Citizens Against Government Waste.
"Congress stuffed 11,610 projects" worth $17.2 billion into a dozen spending bills, the group said in the report released Wednesday.
The "Pig Book" names dozens of what the citizens group considers the most egregious porkers, the lawmakers who funnel money to projects on their home turf.
And what are some of the highlights of the CAGW's exhaustive search, according to the CNN story?
Fruit flies - Mike Thompson (D-CA): Thompson requested $211,000 for olive fruit fly research. The olive fruit fly has infested thousands of acres of California's olive crops.
The First Tee - James Clyburn (R-SC): Added $3 million to the defense appropriations bill for an initiative to teach "life lessons" to young people through golf. 48 states have chapters.
Sheep - Senators Max Baucus (D-MT) and Jon Tester (D-MT): The Montana Sheep Institute gets almost $150,000 to develop and implement strategies that will increase the competitiveness of Montana's lamb and wool industries.
Lobster - Thomas Allen (D-ME), and Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME): $188,000 for the Lobster Institute to "sustain both the lobster resource and a viable lobster fishery through conservation, outreach, research, and education."
Walking Tour - Virgil Goode (R-VA): $98,000 for a historical walking tour in the town of Boydton.
Excuse me, I'm having a Capt. Renault moment again. Look, I know that it's unbelievably offensive to our sensibilities that elected representatives funnel money to their respective districts/states, and that $17.2 billion spread out across 11,000+ projects comes out to, like, a lot of money. But has anyone from the CAGW been to Montana or Maine? These states actually depend on sheep and lobster for their economic well-being, so maybe throwing a few hundred grand at University-sponsored initiatives to make sure the industries stay viable isn't such a ca-razy idea. And a walking tour? Encouraging historical activities? Does $98K cover more than a few tour guides and materials? I think not.
Okay, the golf thing does sound pretty lame. But $3 million for something that spans 48 states doesn't sound that egregious.
The funny thing - no, really, you'll laugh your ass off - is that $17 billion is only $5 billion more than the Iraq War costs per month (not counting interest on the national debt, of course). The CAGW is all up in arms about ivory backscratchers, meanwhile the tab on Bush's war is likely going to end up costing taxpayers close to $3 trillion.
Think of how many lobster studies that could fund.
I have to object to it being called Bush’s war. It’s America’s war and until everyone realizes that we don’t have a chance of surviving it. Oh and AC/DC is the best band EVER having sold more records than GOD and the Beatles. Carol says hello. Have a good one!
Ray