Partisan bickering and nastiness among Congressional members on Capitol Hill these days is well-documented. One practice, however, that always promotes a spirit of bipartisanship in Congress is pork barrel spending -- which, as defined in Wikipedia (so it's got to be right!) is an "appropriation of government spending for localized projects secured solely or primarily to bring money to a representative's district."
In layman's language, it's how members of the House and Senate creatively "bring home the bacon" for their states and particular districts. One infamous example that comes to mind is the "Bridge to Nowhere" in Alaska that was supposed to connect the town of Ketchikan (population 8,900) with its airport on the island of Gravina (population 50) at a cost of $320 million. Yet as much as the practice of pork barrel spending is scorned, no doubt those Congressmen and Senators who've gotten behind certain projects use them as pawns (either directly or indirectly) when election time rolls them and say, "Look what I did for you!" if a particular project happens to benefit their constituents.
Apparently, pork barrel spending is down in Fiscal Year 2010. Nevertheless, it's still rampant (9,129 projects), as the nonprofit Citizens Against Government Waste organization documents each year in its book, appropriately titled: The 2010 Congressional Pig Book Summary.
Granted, the estimated $16.5 billion price tag for these pork barrel projects isn't much when compared to the out-of-control spending that's taken place in Washington over the past 25-30 years. But the following snippets I found in the 2010 Pig Book summary once again points out how widespread pork barrel spending is ... and how it cuts across party lines.
According to the book, each of these items "meet at least one of CAGW’s seven criteria, but must satisfy at least two:
"•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."
Without further ado, here are a few highlights (lowlights?) from the book's "Oinkers" of 2010, which recognizes "perseverance in the mad pursuit of pork":
-- The Thad the Impaler Award: To Sen. Thad Corcoran (R-Mississippi) for ringing up $490 million in pork.
-- The Jekyll and Hyde Award: To Rep. Leonard Lance, (R-New Jersey) for what the book says is "his ever-changing stance on earmarks; first signing a no-earmark pledge, then receiving $21 million in earmarks, then supporting the Republican earmark moratorium."
-- The Kick in the Asp Award: To Madeleine Bordallo, a delegate to Congress from Guam, who secured $500,000 for brown tree snakes control and interdiction. (Talk about a snake in the grass, huh?)
-- The Narcissist Award: To Senators Tom Harkin (Democrat, Iowa) and Robert Byrd (Democrat, West Virginia) -- Harkin for securing $7.2 million to continue the Harkin Grant Program, and Byrd for securing $7 million, which is headed to the Robert C. Byrd Institute of Advanced Flexible Manufacturing Systems.
-- The Hal Bent on Earmarking Award: To Kentucky GOP Rep. Harold "Hal" Rogers, who secured $10 million for the National Institute for Hometown Security.
Other selected pork barrel "highlights":
-- $250,000 secured by GOP Rep. Ed Whitfield of Kentucky "for construction of the Monroe County Farmer's Market."
-- $775,000 for the Institute for Food Science and Engineering (IFSE). which the book stated was "requested by Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee member Mark Pryor, Sen. Blanche Lincoln (both Arkansas Democrats) and Rep. John Boozman (a Republican, also from Arkansas). One of IFSE’s research areas is called 'Pickle Science and Technology' which the institute’s website boasts, 'is dedicated to increasing product value by improving production and quality of pickled vegetables.' "
-- $349,000 "for swine and other waste management by Sen. Kay Hagan, House appropriator David Price and Rep. Bob Etheridge (all Democrats from North Carolina)." Swine and waste managment, huh? (Both appropriate for pork barrel spending, wouldn't you agree!)
-- $1 million "by Senate appropriator Mary Landrieu (Democrat from Louisiana) for the Sewall-Belmont House in Washington, D.C., which holds private events, offers catering, and is visited by tourists who are encouraged to leave donations."
-- And my personal favorite: $400,000 appropriated by Sen. Herb Kohl (Democrat from Wisconsin) for the Institute for Sustainable Agriculture. According to the book, "One of the institute’s projects is promoting 'Slow Food.' As an answer to fast food, 'Slow Food' has been, according to the institute’s website, 'expanding over the past decade from dealing with issues of quality in cooking to include environmental and sustainable agriculture, social justice, and food sovereignty, among others.' "
Heck, I'm wondering if I can lobby a Congressman or Senator to secure $1 million or $2 million, and then have them send it my way. Then I can conduct ongoing research (using myself as a case study) to determine what effects doing absolutely nothing all day has on the human body.
Discover more about how Congress creatively pigs out on your tax dollars at: http://www.cagw.org/.
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