As our supposed star TV and newspaper reporters spend
their days after the November 7 elections trying to
figure out who the Democratic and Republican leaders
will be in the next Congress, who's up, who's down --
thus taking their eye off the real unfolding news as
usual -- has no one noticed that the existing
lame-duck outgoing Congress, both conservative
Republicans and liberal Democrats, are about to
royally roger us taxpayers with their latest spate of
spending bills?
There are 11 unfinished appropriations bills that both
houses of Congress must finish within the next few
weeks, or wrap into another of their humongous omnibus
continuing spending bills that contain hundreds of
spending earmarks loaded into the legislation by our
legislator piggy-pigs who want to bring home the bacon
that will fuel their local political machinery for
re-election two years down the road.
This is obscene. Both Republicans and Democrats in
Congress are licking their chops because the news
media are obsessed with Iraq and other stories while
paying no attention to the excessive spending rogering
that members of Congress have in the works.
For example, why do we need to spend $3.7 million of
federal taxpayer money on Formosan termites in New
Orleans? This is an earmark in the pending House
agriculture appropriations bill, which has another
$1.9-million earmark for bovine genetics in
Beltsville, Maryland, $628,843 for grape genetics in
Geneva, New York, and $603,409 for pecan scab research
in Byron, Georgia.
These spending earmarks written into pending
appropriations bills are slipped in by members of
Congress behind the scenes, with help from both the
chairman and ranking opposition member of the
congressional appropriations committees in both houses
of Congress. This system has existed for decades,
regardless of which party controlled Congress, and
will continue in the future until political leaders
have the fortitude to stop it. And they must stop the
obscene raping of taxpayers exemplified by just the
few following examples:
There's a million dollars in the House commerce
spending bill to promote tourism in southern and
eastern Kentucky; $8.8-million in the House interior
spending bill for an unexplained new water system in
Death Valley National Park, California, and $450,000
for an "automobile heritage area."
The pending 11 spending bills have dozens of earmarks
totaling tens of millions of dollars for luxuries
such as jazz programs throughout the country; outdoor
recreation programs and local park expansion; local
symphony orchestras and museums that cater mostly to
the elite; renovation of palatial estates of rich
people who left their historic property in need of
repair; to build bike trails in Florida and improve
roads owned by the Xerox Corporation, just a few
examples.
When is enough enough? Why should Congress approve a
$3.2-million earmark for bus replacement in Detroit,
Michigan, that was stuffed into the House
Treasury-Transportation-Housing and Urban Development
appropriations bill?
Why do taxpayers get hit for $1.7-million in the same
bill for an earmark to build a Chesapeake Bay
recreation trail in Delaware and another $1.5-million
to build a William Faulkner museum at the University
of Mississippi - plus another $3-million evenly
divided for both the Sawyer County Airport in
Wisconsin and a bicycle trail extension in Pinellas,
Florida?
Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee
succeeded in adding to the House-originated spending
bills a one-million-dollar earmark for "Mormon cricket
and grasshopper activities in Utah;" $6.4-million for
"wood utilization research in 10 states;" $1-million
in the Departmnts of Labor-Health and Human Services
appropriations bill for the Clinton School of Public
Service in Little Rock, Arkansas; and in the highway
spending bill $3-million for Nevada's Carson City
freeway, a million for road improvements in Anchorage,
Alaska, and $2.5-million for the Tongass Coastal
Aquarium in Ketchikan, Alaska.
A listing follows of just a few of the pork-barrel
projects contained in the pending congressional
appropriations bills that will wind up in some fashion
in the next few weeks on President Bush's desk, for
signature or veto.
When voters casted their ballots on November 7, they
were partly motivated by a desire to end obscene
over-spending madness by Congress.
We should watch closely as these congressional
spending bills make their way to President Bush's
desk, to see whether the piggy-wig philosophy of
congressional members from both parties wins the day -
or whether President Bush has the courage to wield a
flourishing veto pen if the legislative hogs approve
the pending pork-barrel spending legislation with all
these obscene spending earmarks.
PORK-BARREL PROJECTS IN THE FISCAL YEAR 2007
HOUSE-SENATE APPROPRIATIONS BILLS:
HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
BILL AMOUNT PROJECT
House Agriculture $3,743,014 Formosan Termite, New
Orleans, LA
House Agriculture $1,913,866 Bovine genetics,
Beltsville, MD
House Agriculture $628,843 Grape genetics,
Geneva, NY
House Agriculture $603,409 Pecan scab research,
Byron, GA
House Agriculture $392,832 Citrus waste
utilization, Winter Haven, FL
House Agriculture $387,976 Manure management
research, Ames, IA
House Agriculture $365,156 Potato breeding,
Aberdeen, ID
Pittsburgh, PA
House Commerce $1,000,000 Southern and Eastern
Kentucky tourism development association
House Commerce $800,000 JARI for a regional
business incubator
House Commerce $750,000 Fairplex Trade and
Conference Center
House Commerce $350,000 National Center for
Community Renewal
House Commerce $300,000 Bronx Council, to
market local business arts initiatives
House Commerce $250,000 Montana World Trade
Center
House Commerce $200,000 Oil Region Alliance of
Business, Industry & Tourism
House Commerce $150,000 Local business
requirements and improvements, Arthur Avenue retail
market
House Commerce $50,000 Community development,
out-of-doors program, Bronx, NY
House Commerce $50,000 Economic and community
development, Thorpe family residence, Bronx, NY
House Energy & Water $1,000,000 City of Orrville Water
Main Replacement
House Energy & Water $750,000 Sewer project, Guernsey
County, OH
House Interior $8,754,000 Water System,
Death Valley National Park, CA
House Interior $450,000 Automobile national
heritage area
House Interior $400,000 Tennessee Civil
War Heritage Area
House Interior $250,000 Capitol Music
Hall, WVA
House Interior $250,000 Maverick Concert
Hall, NY
House Interior $200,000 W.A. Young &
Son's Foundry, PA
House Interior $200,000 Opera House
Theater, TX
House Interior $150,000 John Henry
Historical Park, WVA
House Interior $100,000 Gold Bug/Meagher
House, CA
House Interior $100,000 Brown Mansion, KS
House Interior $75,000 Tom Custer House,
NC
House Interior $50,000 Spencer Ice
Plant, WVA
House Labor-HHS $650,000 Virtual Vietnam
archive, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
House Labor-HHS $300,000 Cincinnati Symphony
Orchestra, Cincinnati, OH
House Labor-HHS $300,000 American Ballet
Theatre, NY, NY
House Labor-HHS $300,000 Play It Smart program,
National House Labor-HHS $300,000 Guam
Memorial Hospital, Tamuning, Guam
Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame,
Morristown, NJ
House Labor-HHS $200,000 National Teachers Hall
of Fame, Emporia, KS
House Labor-HHS $200,000 American Jazz Museum,
Kansas City, MO
House Labor-HHS* $175,000 Andre Agassi College
Preparatory Academy
House Labor-HHS $150,000 Fair Play, Girl Scouts
of the USA, Washington, DC
House Labor-HHS $150,000 History Museum of
East Otter Tail County, Perham, MN
House Labor-HHS $125,000 National Museum of
Industrial History, Bethlehem, PA
House Labor-HHS $100,000 Phillips Collection,
Washington, House Labor-HHS $100,000 Youth For
Tomorrow, Bristow, VA
House Labor-HHS $100,000 Cyber Seniors,
Detroit, MI, for the Experience Senior Power program
House Labor-HHS $100,000 Olweus bullying
prevention program, Tri-County Educational Service
Center, Wooster, OH
House Labor-HHS $100,000 Toledo Jazz Society,
Toledo, OH
House Labor-HHS $100,000 PRONTO of Long
Island, Inc., Bayshore, NY
House Labor-HHS $75,000 Building
Foundations project, Women's Center of Beaver County,
PA
House Labor-HHS $75,000 ArtsQuest--The
Banana Factory, Bethlehem, PA
Community College, Enfield, CT
Antonio, TX
House Labor-HHS $50,000 Documents and
artifacts relating to the public service of Sens.
Francis Case and George McGovern, George and Eleanor
McGovern Library, Dakota Wesleyan University,
Mitchell, SD
DC, for its National Summer Teacher Institute
House TTHUD $3,225,000 Bus replacement,
Detroit, MI
House TTHUD $1,700,000 Chesapeake and
Delaware Canal Recreation Trail, DE
House TTHUD $1,500,000 Construction of
William Faulkner Museum, University of Mississippi
House TTHUD $1,500,000 Sawyer County
Airport, WI
House TTHUD $1,500,000 Pinellas Bicycle
Trail Extension, FL
House TTHUD $1,000,000 State Street
improvements
House TTHUD $1,000,000 Xerox area road
improvements, Monroe County, NY
House TTHUD $1,000,000 Diley Road
improvements, Pickerington, OH
House TTHUD $800,000 Devils Lake
Airport, ND
House TTHUD $700,000 Parking lot
repairs, Asnuntuck
House TTHUD $600,000 Isanti Bike Trail,
Cambridge, MN
House TTHUD $500,000 WAMC Northeast
Public Radio, Albany, NY
House TTHUD $500,000 Belleville Road and
Ecorse Road House TTHUD $500,000 Renovate
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library, Hyde Park,
NY
House TTHUD $500,000 Next generation
hybrid electric transit bus, Broome County, NY
House TTHUD $500,000 Bridgeview Bridge
bike path, MI
House TTHUD $500,000 Renovate public
pool in Banning, CA
House TTHUD $500,000 Rehabilitate
Kapiolani Boulevard and Atkinson Drive, HI
House TTHUD $500,000 Intermodal
parking garage, Fitchburg, MA
House TTHUD $500,000 Traffic calming,
Windermere, FL
House TTHUD $500,000 4th Street
underpass, Monroe, LA
House TTHUD $500,000 Construct a
multi-purpose athletic facility at Crafton Hills
College, Yucaupa, CA
House TTHUD $450,000 Regional bus
replacement, San Diego County, CA
House TTHUD $450,000 Expansion of
Southfield Road, Southfield, MI
House TTHUD $450,000 Demolition of
structure in Fort Dodge, IA
House TTHUD $400,000 Shaw Road Extension,
Puyallup, WA
House TTHUD $400,000 Pedestrian trail
extension, Hammond, IN
House TTHUD $400,000 South Valley
Community Dental, Albuquerque, NM
House TTHUD $400,000 Chassahowitzka
Refuge access road improvement, FL
House TTHUD $400,000
Signal/intersection improvement
House TTHUD $350,000 Streetscape
improvements and off-street parking, Valdosta, GA
House TTHUD $300,000 Pedestrian
walkway/streetscaping, Ellenville, NY
House TTHUD $300,000 Los Angeles Gay &
Lesbian Center, CA
House TTHUD $250,000 Library
construction, Miami-Dade College, FLA
House TTHUD $250,000 Construction of
facility, Bogalusa, LA
House TTHUD $250,000 Convert the Strand
Theater Arts Center into a performing arts center,
Plattsburgh, NY
House TTHUD $250,000 Renovate Diamond Bar
High School community sports field, Diamond Bar, CA
House TTHUD $250,000 Paving SD 34 East
from Madison, SD
House TTHUD $250,000 Alpine traffic
relief route study in Texas
House TTHUD $250,000 Park construction,
Portland, IN
House TTHUD $250,000 Construct a Business
School at Shenandoah University, Winchester, Virginia
House TTHUD $250,000 Ossian Park,
Fairfax County, VA
House TTHUD $200,000 Buses, Gainesville
FL
House TTHUD $200,000 Franklin
streetscape, WVA
House TTHUD $180,000 Recreational park
road, KY
House TTHUD $150,000 Brays Bayou hike
and bike trail, Houston, TX
House TTHUD $150,000 Mt. Zion Federal
Credit Union,
House TTHUD $150,000 Demolish abandoned
church in Raytown, MO
House TTHUD $150,000 12th and 14th
Avenue road reconstruction, Madawaska, ME
House TTHUD $150,000 Greenpoint
Manufacturing Design Center, Brooklyn, NY
House TTHUD $100,000 Community center
construction, Marin County, CA
House TTHUD $100,000 Signage and
streetscape improvements, Fashion District Business
Improvement District, Los Angeles, CA
House TTHUD $100,000 Industrial park
development, Birmingham, AL
House TTHUD $100,000 Convert Coca-Cola
bottling plant into a culture and arts center, Romney,
WVA
House TTHUD $100,000 MacArthur Park, Los
Angeles, CA
intersection, MI
House TTHUD $50,000 White Plains youth
sports complex, Calhoun County, AL
House TTHUD $50,000 Field
improvements, Fairfax County, VA
House TTHUD $50,000 Community theater
renovations, Lineville, AL
Madison, WI
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
BILL AMOUNT PROJECT
Senate Agriculture $6,371,000 Wood utilization
research in 10 states
Senate Agriculture $1,000,000 Mormon cricket and
grasshopper activities in Utah
Senate Agriculture $842,000 Alabama Beef
Connection
Senate Agriculture $591,000 Montana Sheep
Institute
Senate Agriculture $587,000 Ohio-Israel
agriculture initiative
Senate Agriculture $573,000 Food Marketing
Policy Center, CT
Senate Agriculture $495,000 Citrus canker, FL
Senate Agriculture $361,000 Center for Rural
Studies, VT
Senate Agriculture $350,000 World Food Prize
Senate Agriculture $300,000 Medusahead
research, Burns, OR
Senate Agriculture $232,000 National Wild Turkey
Federation
Senate Agriculture $227,000 Dairy education in
Iowa
Senate Agriculture $198,000 Horn fly research,
ALA
Senate Agriculture $150,000 Shellfish genetics,
Oregon State Senate Commerce $575,000 Detroit
Renaissance
Senate Commerce $400,000 City of Pascagoula
economic development
Senate Commerce $300,000 City of Columbus Train
Depot
Senate Commerce $300,000 Central Alabama woman's
business center
Senate DC $350,000 National Council of
La Raza, Senate DC $50,000 Youth
baseball partnership with Payne Elementary School,
Washington, DC Senate Energy & Water $1,750,000 Mine
of the Future, NM
Senate Energy & Water $500,000 Green Shingle
Initiative, TN
Senate Interior $500,000 Beaver Creek
watershed restoration project, Knox County, TN
Senate Interior $250,000 Grand Opera
House, IA
Senate Interior $250,000 Mother's Day
shrine building, Grafton, WVA
Senate Interior $250,000 Forsyth, GA, city
hall
Senate Interior $250,000 Polish American
Cultural Center, PA Senate Interior $150,000
Big Timber Carnegie Public Library, MT
Senate Labor-HHS $1,000,000 Clinton School of
Public Service, Little Rock, AR
Senate Labor-HHS $750,000 Ed Roberts campus,
Berkeley, CA
Senate Labor-HHS $500,000 Sister to
Sister--Everyone Has a Heart Foundation, Washington, DC
Senate Labor-HHS $250,000 Carnegie Hall, NY, NY
Senate Labor-HHS $250,000 Jazz education
programs in Alaska schools, Thelonious Monk Institute
of Jazz, Washington, DC
Senate Labor-HHS $250,000 Jazz at Lincoln
Center, NY, NY
Senate Labor-HHS $200,000 Monterey Bay Aquarium,
CA
Senate Labor-HHS $140,000 Sports Done Right,
University of Maine
Senate TTHUD $3,000,000 Carson City
freeway-phase 2, NV
Senate TTHUD $2,500,000 Tongass Coast
Aquarium, Ketchikan, AL
Senate TTHUD $1,000,000 Port of Anchorage
road improvements, AK
Senate TTHUD $800,000 National Women's
Hall of Fame, Seneca Falls, NY
Senate TTHUD $800,000 Build Cobb
Performing Arts Centre, Cobb County, GA
Senate TTHUD $750,000 Acquisition of Ward
Cove Cannery property, Craig, AK
Senate TTHUD $750,000 Repaving Battleship
New Jersey Access Road (Clinton Street), NJ
Senate TTHUD $400,000 Four Bands Community
Fund, Eagle Butte, SD
Senate TTHUD $300,000 Reconstruction of
Robert Frost Farm, New Hampshire Department of
Resources and Economic Development
Senate TTHUD $200,000 Tom Green County
Library, TX
Senate TTHUD $200,000 Build downtown
parking structure, Provo, UT
Senate TTHUD $200,000 Daly Mansion
Preservation Trust
Senate TTHUD $200,000 Hudson Valley
Community College model automotive dealership, Troy,
NY
Senate TTHUD $200,000 Development of
Performing Arts Centre, Temple, TX
Senate Labor-HHS $200,000 Western Folklife
Center, Elko, NV
Senate TTHUD $200,000 Construct
multi-generational recreation facility in North Las
Vegas, NV
Senate TTHUD $200,000 Hawaii Nature
Center, Honolulu, HI
Senate TTHUD $200,000 Stadium Theatre,
Woonsocket, RI
Senate TTHUD $200,000 Historic Plaza
Theatre, Laredo, TX
Senate TTHUD $200,000 Providence
Performing Arts Center, RI
University
• TTHUD = Departments of Treasury, Transportation,
Housing and Urban Development
• LABOR-HHS = Departments of Labor, Health and Human
Services, Education, and Related Agencies
• DC = District of Columbia