THE US REPORT

Citizens Against Government Waste came up with this catchy mascot and slogan to raise awareness of federal spendthrifts.This morning taxpayer watchdog groups spoke from the National Press Club about government spending; the program aired on C-SPAN. I was about to catch David Williams’ remarks when the Florida storms killed our power for the umpteenth time. Williams, policy vice-president for Citizens Against Government Waste, puts the organization’s annual Pig Book together. Also on the program was Tom Schatz, CAGW president. CAGW also had the group’s official mascot, a large pink pig character, on hand and a new slogan, ‘Where’s Pigfoot?’ will hopefully draw attention to ongoing offenses committed by spendthrifts in the US Congress.

CAGW said, “The 2009 Pig Book identified 10,160 projects at a cost of $19.6 billion in the 12 Appropriations Acts for fiscal 2009. A pork project is a line-item in an appropriations bill that designates tax dollars for a specific purpose in circumvention of established budgetary procedures.” To qualify as pork, an item must satisfy at least 2 of 7 criteria:

•Requested by only one chamber of Congress;
•Not specifically authorized;
•Not competitively awarded;
•Not requested by the President;
•Greatly exceeds the President’s budget request or the previous year’s funding;
•Not the subject of congressional hearings; or
•Serves only a local or special interest.

There are a host of pet projects that benefit select areas. New York’s wine and grape industry got $2,192,000 courtesy of Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee member Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.), then-House appropriator James Walsh (R-N.Y.), and Rep. Michael Arcuri (D-N.Y.) for the Center for Grape Genetics in Geneva.

Proving global warming aka climate change isn’t just a boon for hedge fund speculators, $41,065,000 for 26 projects was delivered by Senate CJS Appropriations Subcommittee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), including: $1,000,000 for the University of Maryland College Park for its Advanced Study Institute for Environmental Prediction to study climate impacts and adaptation in the Mid-Atlantic region; $1,000,000 for Coppin State University, Towson University, and the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute to partner on a program to increase the number and quality of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics teachers in the region's public schools; $550,000 for the NOAA Chesapeake Bay office for blue crab research; $500,000 for the NOAA Chesapeake Bay office for a network of environmental observation platforms; and $500,000 to Charles County public schools for a digital classroom project.

There’s also $900,000 porked by Reps. Danny Davis (D-Ill.) and Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-Ill.), and then-Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) for equipment for the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum in Chicago. In a March 13, 2009 article in the Chicago Tribune jabs were exchanged in reference to the project when Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) referred to the project as an overhead projector. According to the article, “The machine is actually a sophisticated $3 million to $5 million light-projection system that beams images of the stars, planets and galaxies onto the ceiling. The museum wants to spend millions to update its original, 78-year-old domed Sky Theater auditorium, including replacement of the huge, 40-year-old Zeiss planetarium projection system, which is falling into disrepair. The Zeiss machine is so old that the German manufacturer longer has employees who know how to fix it. … Most of the funding will come from private and corporate donations.” The Adler Planetarium’s 2007 tax return showed a fund balance of $31 million; the $900,000 taxpayer “contribution” represents less than 3 percent of that amount.

The US Constitution provides for spending for the general welfare, but these projects and others give the term ‘welfare’ a whole new dimension.

Members of Congress who loaded pork items should be ashamed. We no longer can afford for legislators to win elections because they direct spending to their own pet projects. Earmarks should be banned, period. President Barack Obama promised earmark reform during his campaign, but I have little hope. He managed more than $700 million of his own earmarks during his brief term in the US Senate.

The Pig Book is entertaining reading for sure, and hopefully, spendthrift members like Schumer will have a nightmare or two as the earmark figures make their way into the public eye. One response comes in the form of tea parties being held across the nation—all we can say is it’s about time we taxpayers speak up.

[From CAGW Introduction to Pig Book, with commentary by Kay B. Day]

Congress' Nightmare: CAGW Pig Book reveals federal spendthrifts by Kay B. Day