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hoosier 
Group: Members
Posts: 1476
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Sep. 30 2003,10:44 am |
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Pig Book Reveals Record Level of Pork
Political humorist P. J. O'Rourke once said that "giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys." Considering how much money Congress spends each year on pork-barrel projects, it's tough to disagree with him.
As catalogued in the new 2003 Congressional Pig Book published by Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), these expenditures constitute a record-breaking $22.5 billion spent on 9,362 pork-barrel projects. That spending figure is 11.9 percent greater than the $20.1 billion in pork projects passed in 2002, also a record at the time, and the number of projects is 12.2 percent greater than the then-record 8,341 pork projects buried in last year's appropriations bills.
During the last two years, as America came under terrorist attack and responded, the number of pork projects has increased by 47.8 percent, and total pork spending has risen by 21.6 percent. Shamefully, many members of Congress have used September 11 as an excuse to spend money on just about anything.
Since CAGW began chronicling annual pork spending in1991 in its Congressional Pig Book, the organization has identified $162 billion in total spending to date. But this year it appears that Congress has truly outdone itself, finding even new ways to frivolously waste taxpayer money.
Examples include such pressing necessities as $732,000 for the Center for Designing Foods in Ames, Iowa; $560,000 for the Sheep Institute in Bozeman, Montana; $202,500 for a new agricultural arena at the National Peanut Festival Fairgrounds in Dothan, Alabama; and $90,000 for the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas. These last two items each received a CAGW "Oinker" award given to the most egregious pork projects.
Additional projects include $900,000 for renovation of the Plaza Theater in El Paso, Texas; $405,000 to the Soccer League in Staten Island, New York; $180,000 for the Franco-American Heritage Center in Lewiston, Maine; and $500,000 for catfish health in Stoneville, Mississippi. Who's looking out for the well-being of the taxpayers?
The porkiest states in fiscal 2003 were Alaska and Hawaii, which brought home a per person pork expenditure of $610.99 and $283.43 respectively compared to the national average of $34.33 per person. This is no surprise given that Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and Senator Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) are firmly ensconced on the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. As the current chairman of the committee, Sen. Stevens' well-established love affair with pork is an open invitation to spend more and more for that purpose each year.
Congress is pigging out even as the U.S. military wages a war in Iraq. This is a sharp break from past practice, when Congress frequently curbed its spending appetite while financing a war effort. For example, prior to World War II, non-defense was cut by 22 percent between 1939 and 1942. An additional 37 percent was eliminated over the next two years. During the Korean War, non-defense discretionary spending dropped 25% between 1950 and 1951.
By contrast, members of this Congress passed the Omnibus Appropriations bill in February knowing full well that war with Iraq was imminent, and that it would cost tens of billions of dollars. Now that Congress has passed $80 billion in supplemental appropriations to finance the war and other anti-terrorism measures, Americans are faced with a ballooning budget deficit that will exceed $300 billion this year. Forgoing the $22.5 billion in pork would have significantly eased the financial burden on taxpayers.
To be fair, there are a few members of Congress who have been reliable opponents of pork-barrel binging, notably Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.). Sen. McCain has repeatedly tried to thwart attempts by his colleagues to finance such projects, most recently in an effort to cut over $149 million in pork spending from the $80 billion supplemental spending bill. Unfortunately, only 38 of his colleagues agreed with him that expenditures like $98 million for an agriculture facility in Iowa or $50 million for a shipbuilding industry bailout are unrelated to the current war.
Too many in Congress seem to believe that spending tax dollars on pork projects is a legitimate function of the federal government. Citizens who disagree must voice their dissatisfaction to their representatives. Only when these politicians are bombarded with letters, emails, and phone calls from outraged constituents will they ever find the resolve to change their piggish ways.
It's difficult to believe that members of Congress would ever spend such enormous sums of their own money on projects like the ones listed above. Taxpayers should demand that their money isn't used for such purposes either.
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The power of accurate obsvervation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.
George Bernard Shaw
The devil begins with froth on the lips of an angel entering into battle for a holy and just cause. Grigory Pomerants
We have crossed the boundary that lies between Republic and Empire. Garet Garrett
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hoosier
Group: Members
Posts: 1476
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Sep. 30 2003,10:59 am |
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I might add that the 87 Billion Bush wants for Iraq, isnt all going to Iraq. Its filled with pork items just like the ones mentioned here.
All I ask of people is that before you complain about services being cut, or that we need to raise taxes, take a look at some of the bills that go through congress. I mean come on, why are all of us paying 405,000 dollars to a soccer league in Staten Island New York?
These are things that might be great to fund in better times, that is if we have absulutly nothing else we could do with the money. But our state budget, while not as bad, still has lots of pork itself. I have said it once, I'll say it again, we should NEVER raise taxes again until some of this spending is done away with. Its not our fault, we are not under taxed. The politicians are buying their own reelection with our tax dollars.
We have plenty of revenue coming in from taxes to do everything we need done, if it werent for the pork.
Come on, this is like you or I spending 500 dollars on a baseball card and then asking for help to buy your children coats for the winter.
No new taxes, just cut the excess pork. 
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The power of accurate obsvervation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.
George Bernard Shaw
The devil begins with froth on the lips of an angel entering into battle for a holy and just cause. Grigory Pomerants
We have crossed the boundary that lies between Republic and Empire. Garet Garrett
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jimhanson
Group: Moderator
Posts: 8491
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Sep. 30 2003,3:21 pm |
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Love him or hate him, the line I liked from Ross Perot came from one of his "infomercials". It went something like "Freeze taxes RIGHT here (don't ya see?). Take ALL of the money we send to Washington, and pour it down those ratholes for all I care--just don't take any more of my money. To raise taxes, we gotta have a referrendum.
If ya want ta fund something ELSE, ya GOTTA CUT a program. Here's my money, but its all yur gonna git--if ya want any more, ya gotta ASK ME!"
It probably would have worked on the Courthouse!
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"If you want to anger a Conservative, tell him a lie. If you want to anger a LIBERAL, tell him the TRUTH!"
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