& Not All of It is Iowa Pork

Continuing a long time tradition, the Citizens Against Governement Waste have issued their 2008 Congressional Pig Book. This book looks at the amount of pork every member of Congress put into the budget for 2007. & the results smell about the same as any Iowa Pig Farm, horrible. While I will grant that some of the items they call pork are debatable, most aren't. They are waste, pure & simple.

The information is available in a variety of ways. You can see specifically what your Senator or Representative put into the budget. You can see how your state ranks or how your senator or Repesentative ranks in comparison to the others.

Of the 3 Presidential Candiates, Shrillary, Obama & McCain, the results were not surprizing. Hilly came in at #13 in the Senate with $296.2 million worth of pork. Obama came in 70th with $97.4 million. McCain was in a 5 way tie for last (96th) with $0.

What was shocking to me was where the 2 Iowa Senators came in, or should I say where Sen. Grassley came in. I expected Harkin to be high on the list, but Grassley actually beat him out. Sen Harkin came in 10th with $302.8 million. Grassley came in 8th with $321.4 million.

In the House the top & bottom porker went to a Republican. The middle 3 were the Dems. Rep. Lathem-R (4th District) came in 41st with $67.0 million. Next was Loesbach-D (2nd) coming in at 62nd with $53.5 million. Boswell-D (3rd) ranked 127th with $33.1 million. Brailey-D (1st, my district) ranked 160th at $27.5 million. Finally in a 3-way tie for 336th place came King-R (5th) with $9.8.

& Iowa moved up big time. In the 2007 report we ranked 37th. This year Iowa came in 16th with $184.6 million. (Again, I have to say that I would argue with some of what they call pork, but not all.) That comes to $61.79 worth of pork per Iowan. (I'd love to know what we paid in Federal taxes to see how we compare.)

What is even more disgusting is that the chart showing pork fro 1995-2008 justifies the claims that the Dems are the fiscal conservatives & the Republicans are spendthrifts. This is not news to me, but it confirms the fact that the Republicans deserved to lose control.

Then there are this year's "Oinkers". Theseawards are given as the means of "Recognizing Dogged Perseverance in the Mad Pursuit of Pork".

The French Kiss Off Award

to Representative Mike Thompson (D-Calif.)

for $211,509 in olive fruit fly research in Paris, France.

The Taxpayers Get Teed Off Award

to House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.)

for $3 million for The First Tee in the defense appropriations bill.

The Cold Hard Cash Award

to Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska)
for $165.7 million in defense pork.

The Tax Dollars on Drugs Award

to Representative John Murtha (D-Pa.)

for $23 million for the National Drug Intelligence Center.

The Pantheon of Pork Award

to Senator Robert Byrd (D-W.VA)

for $386 million in pork.

(The big surprize is that he ranked 5th this year)

The Narcissist Award

to Representative Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.)
for $1,950,000 for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service.

The Pig in Sheep's Clothing Award

to Montana Senators Max Baucaus (D) and Jon Tester (D) for $148,950

for the Montana Sheep Institute.

The Unidentified Fiscal Object Award

to Representative Ann Esshoo (D-Calif.)

for $1.6 million for the Allen Telescope Array.

(Hey, with a name like Allen it can't be bad!!!!!)

The Money Doesn't Grow on Trees Award

to Senator Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) for $344,540
for the city of Chicago Green Streets Tree Planting Program.

The Porky and Bess Award

for $7.9 million for 36 theaters in 21 states.

The Pacific Fleeced Award

to Senator Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii)
for $173.2 million in defense pork.

The Taxpayers Get Steamed Award

to Maine Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe (R), and Rep. Thomas Allen (D-Maine)

for $188,000 for the Lobster Institute.

This Pork Was Made for Walking Award

to Representative Virgil Goode (R-Va.)
for $98,000 to develop a walking tour of Boydton, Virginia.

The Return to Sender Award

to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.)

for $196,000 for the renovation and transformation of the historic downtown Post Office in Las Vegas.

Like I said, some of this is debatable as to its status as pork. But what is not is that most of it is money that is being appropriated for things that our Founding Fathers would never have envisioned as justifiable under the Constitution.

As an aside, I fed in Planned Parenthood in their database search & came up with nothing. I also tried abortion & birth control, nothing. Given that PP does get Federal Funds it is apparent that CAGW doesn't see that money as pork. & in my mind, that undermines a lot of their credibility. Apparently helping to fund 3200 murders a day isn't pork.

CAGW, most of what you are doing is fine, but if you are really opposed to waste, start with the lives that are wasted each day by their being victims to abortion. Any lost life is worth more than all the pork combined.

CAGW, SHAME ON YOU!!!!!!