Less pork-barrel spending by Congress this year
Waste-watchers applaud a big drop in earmarks, citing a moratorium on Capitol Hill.
from the March 9, 2007 edition
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"The shorter 'Pig Book' is good news for taxpayers, but all the pork that was left out is still in the holding pen," says John Hart, spokesman for Rep. Tom Coburn (R) of Oklahoma, whose fight against a $231 million "bridge to nowhere" in Alaska spurred the reform drive. "Appropriations subcommittees are soliciting earmark requests in violation of the earmark moratorium."
Critics of pork-barrel spending charge that earmarks are the "gateway drug to overspending" and can be corrupting.
"The Republican Party lost the last election because of our failure to control ... the earmarking, which led then to corruption, which led then to members of Congress going to jail," said Sen. John McCain (R) of Arizona, at a briefing Wednesday.
On the 'pork' list
Projects in the "2007 Pig Book" are from the only two spending billsof last year: defense and homeland security. Here are three from eachbill that made the "most egregious examples" list.
Defense
• $1.19 billion to build 20 F-22 fighter jets a year until 2009. TheGAO has told Congress the jet is out of date and that a less costlyalternative, the F-35, is a better investment.
• $4 million for a rail line in Alaska between the North Pole (pop. 1,778) and Delta Junction (pop. 840).
• $1.65 million for a Seattle firm researching how to extend the shelf life of fruits and vegetables for troops in the field.
Homeland security (DHS)
• $225 million for a port security plan that DHS's own inspectorgeneral says is lacking assurance that "the most critical andvulnerable" ports are being buttressed.
• $12 million for security on intercity buses. Bus lines should foot the bill, the report says.
• $12 million to unnamed colleges to plan for emergency response teams for rural areas.
Source: Citizens Against Government Waste
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