The Citizens Against Government Waste watchdogs have just published their annual "Pig Book" which carefully delineates Congressional spending on pet projects and pork barrels. And not surprisingly, it's a disgustingly thick book!A few of the most notable items are the Oinker Awards. For instance, "The Taxpayers Get Teed Off Award" went to House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) for getting $3 million for The First Tee (buried in the defense appropriations bill); Democrat Congressman Charles Rangel of Harlem won "The Narcissist Award" for wrangling $1.95 million of taxpayer money to establish the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at City College; "This Pork Was Made for Walking Award" went to Republican Congressman Representative Virgil Goode for securing $98,000 to develop a walking tour of Boydton, Virginia; and several more.
But beyond these dubious honors, the "Pig Book" gives a very illuminating overview of government spending on pork projects as well as the nitty gritty details. It also takes time to explain exactly what makes a "pork" project -- All of the items in the Congressional Pig Book Summary meet at least one of these 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;
• Serves only a local or special interest.
You'll be interested in seeing how a few individuals fared in the "Pig Book' statistics. Let's start with Democrat Senator Hillary Clinton: 281 specific pork projects at a cost of $296.2 million; Democrat Senator Robert Byrd: 111 projects costing $386 million; Democrat Senator Diane Feinstein: 189 projects costing $294 million; Republican Senator Chuck Grassley: 154 projects costing $321.4 million; another Iowa Senator, Democrat Tom Harkin: 194 projects totaling $302.8 million; Democrat Senator Daniel Inouye: 131 projects costing $385.5 million; Democrat Senator Mary Landrieu: 161 projects at $458.5 million; Democrat Senator Carl Levin: 255 projects costing $301.4 million; Republican Senator Dick Shelby: 206 projects totaling $464.5 million; Republican Senator Ted Stevens: 150 projects at $469.4 million; and Democrat Senator Barack Obama: a comparatively modest 53 projects costing only $97.4 million.
But hey; everybody's doing it, right?Wrong.
Please note the following: Republican Senator John Barrasso: 5 projects at $12.5 million; Democrat Senator Jay Rockefeller: 2 projects at $6.2 million; Republican Senator Mike Enzi: 3 projects totaling $10.3 million.
And how about these guys? Republican Senator Tom Coburn: 0 projects - $0.0; Republican Senator Jim DeMint: 0 projects - $0.0; Democrat Senator Russ Feingold: 0 projects - $0.0; Democrat Senator Claire McCaskill: 0 projects -$0.0; and, yes...Republican Senator John McCain: 0 projects - $0.0.
And don't overlook the House where local politics has always generated huge pressures to "bring home the bacon." Consider Republican John Boehner: 0 projects - $0.0; Republican Paul Broun: 0 projects - $0.0; Republican Jeff Flake: 0 projects -$0.0; Republican Vito Fossela: 0 projects - $0.0; Republican John Kline: 0 projects - $0.0; Republican Bob Latta: 0 projects - $0.0; Republican Joe Pitts: 0 projects - $0.0; and I'm delighted to list in closing my own Congressman, the honorable Republican, Lee Terry: 0 projects $0.0.
Yes, Virginia; there are a few real fiscal conservatives in Washington. And one of them is running for President.
