Oh yes, this is a great site, fantastic. But don’t read it on a full stomach, you might throw up. Why? This site lists all the port barrell spending out senators and representatives cajoule up to bring back to their districts. Somewhere along the line, the role of representing your constituents has changed to paying off your constituents to keep you in office. Some of this years “winners” include:
* $13,500,000 for the International Fund for Ireland, which helped finance the World Toilet Summit
*$6,435,000 for wood utilization research
*$1,000,000 for the Waterfree Urinal Conservation Initiative
*$500,000 for the Sparta Teapot Museum in Sparta, N.C.
The 375 projects, totaling $3.4 billion, in this year’s Congressional Pig Book Summary symbolize the most egregious and blatant examples of pork. As in previous years, all of the items in the Congressional Pig Book Summary meet at least one of CAGW’s seven criteria, but most 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.
While this looks like small numbers in the grand scheme of things, it actually adds up to over $29B this year…
L u k e n . o r g 