We
make celebrities out of special pigs like Babe, Piglet, Porky and
Petunia, the Three Little Pigs and Miss Piggy. But what about the
loathsome ones listed in "The Congressional Pig Book," by Citizens
Against Government Waste (CAGW). They call it "the little pink book
Washingon doesn't want you to read."
Because Congress is much funnier than any humorist who ever lived,
it wasn't necessary to embellish what they're doing with the money
you slaved to earn and reported April 15th on your 1040s.
“It’s that time of year again,” CAGW President Tom Schatz said. “The
time of year where Americans are forced to shell out exorbitant sums
of money to fund inefficient and inept government programs.”
According to the 2005 Congressional Pig Book, which compiles the wasteful
pet projects of gluttonous appropriators, Congress managed to shove
13,997 pork projects into 13 appropriations bills, for a total of
$27.3 BILLION. That's almost as much as Bill Gates makes in an hour.
Despite record budget deficits, members of Congress have increased
both the number and cost of pork for their home districts and states
to record amounts.
Here
are a few "Oinkers" of 2005, "recognizing dogged perserverance in
the mad pursuit of pork," for which we are are footing the bill:
$4,989,000
to Hot Springs National Parks to rehabilitate/stabilize bathhouses
for adaptive reuse in Arkansas
$1,790,000
for berry research in Alaska
$1,500,000
to the Missouri Historical Society for an archive relating to the
Congressional career of the Honorable Richard A. Gephardt
$1,148,000
for dietary intervention in Ohio
$1,000,000
for the Oklahoma City Water Taxi
$1,000,000
for the World Birding Center Administrative Building/Visitor Center,
Texas
$874,000 to
the Center for Food Industry Excellence in Texas
$700,000 to
Saint Joseph's University for an anti-obesity program.
$500,000 for
the Lewis and Clark explorer shuttle parking in Oregon
$472,000 for
dairy farm profitability in Pennsylvania
$125,000 for
the USA Stars Cultural Exchange and Diversity Training: Alcohol
and Obesity Education Through Sport with Oklahoma Judo
$100,000 for
the Sistas and Brothas alternatives to gangs and drugs in New York
$121,250 for
the Utah Shakespearean Festival
$80,000 to
the San Diego Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center
$75,000 to
Pennsylvania for hides and leather research
$50,000 for
animal waste treatment in South Carolina
$6.3 million
for wood utilization research
$100,000 for
the Tiger Woods Foundation
$1.7 million
to Alabama for the International Fertilizer Development Association
$399 million
to Senator Robert Byrd (D-W. Va.) for West Virginia pork
$469,000 for
the National Wildlife Turkey Federation in South Carolina, supporting
wild turkey hunting as a traditional sport
$100,000 for
the Lake Oswego historic iron smelter in Oregon
$3.3 million
for start-up operations at the Capitol Visitor Center
$350,000 to
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland for music education
programs
$2 million
for the buyback of the USS Sequoia Presidential Yacht
1.4 million
for various Halls of Fame including the Greater Syracuse Sports
Hall of Fame ($75,000) and the Paper Industry Hall of Fame in Appleton,
Wisconsin ($70,000)
$300,000 for
Anaheim Resort Transit (that's Disneyland) bus and bus fabilities
in the district of Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.)
$200,000 for
the Weed It Now project in the Taconic Mountains in Connecticut,
Maine, and New York
$25,000 to
Clark County School District in Nevada for curriculum development
to study mariachi music
$23.8 million
in High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program grants
$646 million
to Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) for local projects. That's $985
per capita. He's been at the top of the pork list for the last four
years.
8.2 million
for the Ft. Lewis Army Chapel, which offers diverse services for
Christians, hews, Muslims, and Wiccans
All this, and
conservative columnist George Will says it's just a "blip in the
overall budget. It is trivial as a sum of money."
"My favorite
this year is the $100,000 for the Punxsatawny Weather Discovery
Center Museum. We are now funding groundhogs," said Sen. John McCain,
R-AZ, a longtime critic of congressional pork, who attended the
release of CAGW's report.
Maybe Washington's
plans on buying a cuter outfit for Phil the Groundhog than the fur
coat he's already got.
I just wish
the Federal Government would keep its cloven hooves out of my piggy
bank.
Copyright Maggie Van Ostrand
"A Balloon In Cactus"
April 20, 2005 column
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