Citizens Against Government Waste Point at Pork

Each year, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) releases its annual report of government pork barrel spending and this year is no exception. This week, the organization released its 2010 "Congressional Pig Book," which comes during the group's 20th anniversary. As in past issues, the focus is on spending that is out of control. The Pig Book exposes 9,129 earmarks that combined are worth $16.5 billion.

What, exactly, is an "earmark?" The simplest and most concise definition I have seen on the subject comes from FactCheck.org, which describes earmarks as "government funds that are allocated by a legislator for a particular pet project, often without proper review." Spending bills are often full of politically unpopular items and in order to get them passed, they include nasty little pet projects that are designed to make the larger bill more palpable to individual members of Congress in both Houses and parties. According to CAGW, slightly more than 15 percent of earmarks went to Republican members, the remainder went to the Democrats. Considering that the GOP pretends to be the only party with a moral high ground on this issue, this number is still too high.

Rhetorically, things are changing in government today. According to CAGW President Tom Schatz, "Recent actions in the House to stop funding for-profit earmarks and the House Republican Caucus' decision to not request earmarks, indicates that politicians from both parties recognize that taxpayers are enraged about the broken spending process in Washington. They have noticed that it is popular to posture as an anti-earmarker. Unfortunately, the 2010 Congressional Pig Book illustrates that most members of Congress still aren't willing to eliminate the practice and why meaningful reform is necessary."

I'm sure members of both parties are going to cite progress. According to CAGW's press release, "The number of projects declined by 10.2 percent, from 10,160 in fiscal year 2009 to 9,129 in fiscal year 2010, while the total tax dollars spent to fund them decreased by 15.5 percent, from $19.6 billion to $16.5 billion." This is partially attributed to the fact that reforms have been passed that make it mandatory for members of Congress to identify earmarks they requested and those who will benefit from them. In spite of these reforms, Congress still finds itself breaking its own rules in regards to being transparent. CAGW "uncovered 91 earmarks worth $6.5 billion that were funded" outside of the required rules. This was particularly noticeable in the 2010 Defense Appropriations Act, which included 35 anonymous earmarks worth $6 billion, which made up a breath taking 59 percent of the earmarked tax dollars.

The Pig Book Summary review some of the most outrageous examples, breaks down pork per capita by state, and presents the annual "Oinker Awards." All 9,129 projects are listed in a searchable database on CAGW's website www.cagw.org. Examples of pork in the 2010 Pig Book include:

• $465,000,000 for the alternate engine for the Joint Strike Fighter;
• $5,000,000 for the Presidio Heritage Center in California;
• $1,000,000 for Portsmouth Music Hall in New Hampshire;
• $400,000 for the USA Swimming Foundation in New Jersey;
• $300,000 for Carnegie Hall in New York City;
• $250,000 for the Monroe County Farmer's Market in Kentucky;
• $200,000 for the Washington National Opera in the District of Columbia; and
• $206,000 for wool research in Montana, Texas, and Wyoming.

CNN notes that the CAGW also provided several awards for members, based on their spending behavior.

The "Dunder-head Mifflin Award" (from the popular TV show, "The Office") -- Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pennsylvania, and Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Pennsylvania, for "$200,000 for design and construction of a small business incubator and multipurpose center in Scranton, Pennsylvania."

There is also the "Thad the Impaler Award" -- Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Mississippi, "for $490 million in pork, including $200,000 for the Washington National Opera for set design, installation and performing arts at libraries and schools, and $500,000 for the University of Southern Mississippi for cannabis eradication."

Then there is the "Hal Bent on Earmarking Award" -- Rep. Harold "Hal" Rogers, R-Kentucky, "for $10 million for the National Institute for Hometown Security."

Other awards included the "Little Engine That Couldn't Award," the "Narcissist Award," the "Steak Through the Heart of Taxpayers Award," and the "Sapping the Taxpayers Award." My personal favorite is the "Jekyll and Hyde Award" -- Rep. Leonard Lance, R-New Jersey, received it for being a moving target on earmarks. "He first signed a no-earmark pledge, then received $21 million in earmarks, then supported the Republican earmark moratorium." I believe there are probably many other members that walk one thing and talk something entirely different. Review the list of other awards and find out if your member of Congress is a "winner" and how bad of a loser you are in the type of representation you have in Washington, DC.

Kevin Price is a syndicated columnist whose articles frequently appear at ChicagoSunTimes.com, Reuters.com, USAToday.com, and other national media. Kevin Price is also host of the Price of Business (M-F at 11 AM on CNN radio). Hear the show live and online at PriceofBusiness.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.

Reasons You Should be Furious about "Stimulus"

Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), the Medical Doctor turned politician has a reputation of being "Dr. No." Coburn does not take this as an insult, but sees it as a badge of honor. This fiscal conservative has been angry about waste in government and has championed responsibility for since winning his seat. The Senator has released a report examining the 100 worse projects to come from President Obama's stimulus package.

The study is must reading, the following are just a few of the worst examples of waste:

• "Free" stimulus money results in higher utility rates for residents in Perkins, Oklahoma. The Perkins Journal notes "The good news: Perkins is receiving money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for its new waste water treatment plant. The bad news: ARRA funds come with strings that will increase project costs by 25 percent." Perkins was "shovel ready" when they applied for its grant to get $1.5 million of the $5 million to renovate the plant. To get the money, the city would have to comply with new regulations. The Journal notes those requirements include: "ARRA requires that projects use American-made materials rather than the lowest cost materials and pay workers based on a prevailing wage survey that can result in higher than average wages in certain areas. The total cost of the project has increased from $5.26 million to $7.2 million, offsetting any benefit from the grant with higher overall costs."



• FutureGen: The Stimulus Earmark that Wasn't, Becomes the Costliest Pork Project in History. In spite of assurances that the stimulus was about the economy growing and not political pay back, there was something amiss with FutureGen. The Washington Post notes that "Deep inside the economic stimulus package is a $1 billion prize that, in five short words, shows the benefits of being in power in Washington...The funding, for 'fossil energy research and development,' is likely to go to a power plant in a small Illinois town, a project whose longtime backers include a group of powerful lawmakers from the state, among them President Obama."



• Little-Used "Shovel Ready" Bridges in Rural Wisconsin Given Priority over Widely Used Structurally Deficient Bridges. Coburn's study reports: "Wisconsin has 1,256 structurally deficient bridges, which more than the number in Florida, Colorado, Arizona and Alaska – combined. Instead of repairing these bridges, $15.8 million in transportation stimulus money will be used repair 37 rural bridges that hardly anyone uses. On average, the 37 rural bridges carry little more than 500 vehicles a piece each day, with several that typically see fewer than 100. One bridge along River Road in Iowa County carries no more than 10 cars a day, but will receive nearly $430,000 for repairs."

As stated earlier, the study reviews 100 different projects, at a total cost of $5.5 billion. Coburn doesn't attempt to judge the worthiness of all the projects, instead he points out their fatal flaws. This "worst" 100 provides great information to anyone who wants to pursue the government as a solution to our economic woes. Reading it will make anyone think twice.

Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business, the longest running show on AM 650 (M-F at 11 am) in Houston, Texas and on AOL Radio. His articles often appear in Chicago Sun Times, Reuters, USA Today, and other national media. Steve Moore of the Wall Street Journal calls Price the “best business talk show host in the country.” Find out why and visit his blog at www.BizPlusBlog.com and his show site at www.PriceofBusiness.com. You can also find Price on Strategy Room at FoxNews.com.

Americans Don't Care About Pork?

Wasteful spending is a common practice by the federal government. Major bills are often greased with pork spending to get things through the legislative process. The political elite seems to believe that the American people are not concerned about this reality. In fact, Sen. Charles Schumer of New York stood on the floor of the US Senate and lamented the complaints of the "chattering class" (aka radio hosts) and said that the American people simply don't care.

If he is right, the old cliche is true -- ignorance is bliss. Democrat leaders in Congress and the White House are using our economic troubles as an excuse to perform things they would never be able to get away with under normal circumstances. The stimulus package of over $780 billion was printed one evening and was expected to be voted on the next day. Not a single Member of either Houses of Congress read that bill in its entirety (nor did the vast majority of their staff). The only ones that were intimately familiar with the bill were the lobbyists who glued it together. Maybe Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was right when he said "Never let a serious crisis go to waste. What I mean by that is it's an opportunity to do things you couldn't do before." You have to appreciate his honesty.

For every dollar spent on stimulus, hundreds were spent in political paybacks designed to keep the Democratic party in power for years to come. With only 3 Republicans voting for it as it went through the process, this was nothing more than a gift to political allies. A very expensive gift at that.

The Wall Street Journal reviewed the pork and they declared that they "couldn't believe" what they saw. "There's $1 billion for Amtrak, the federal railroad that hasn't turned a profit in 40 years; $2 billion for child-care subsidies; $50 million for that great engine of job creation, the National Endowment for the Arts; $400 million for global-warming research and another $2.4 billion for carbon-capture demonstration projects. There's even $650 million on top of the billions already doled out to pay for digital TV conversion coupons."

The Journal also points out that, in spite of Obama's promises that this bill would provide stimulus, it is next to impossible to find examples of such happening, noting "some $30 billion, or less than 5% of the spending in the bill, is for fixing bridges or other highway projects. There's another $40 billion for broadband and electric grid development, airports and clean water projects that are arguably worthwhile priorities." How about those exciting business tax cuts designed to spur economic activity? We find that if you "add the roughly $20 billion for business tax cuts, and by our estimate only $90 billion out of $825 billion, or about 12 cents of every $1, is for something that can plausibly be considered a growth stimulus. And even many of these projects aren't likely to help the economy immediately. "

Candidate Obama promised four days of public review of legislation online before a bill would become a law. This final bill flew went to the House 24 hours after it left the Senate. The last thing the Obama administration wanted was serious review. It shouldn't be a surprise, this bill is about payback to all of the lobbyists and special interest groups that took the Democrats from the outhouse to the White House.

Kevin Price is a syndicated columnist whose articles frequently appear at ChicagoSunTimes.com, Reuters.com, USAToday.com, and other national media. Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at PriceofBusiness.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.