“The Democratic Leadership of the House is cutting in half the number of earmarks in this year’s appropriation bills.”
– House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, March 13, 2007
So much for Pelosi’s pledge. The mammoth $515 billion omnibus spending bill obliterates the Democrats’ promise to slash pork-barrel projects. As the Senate moves toward consideration of the bill, a thorough analysis reveals the omnibus actually increases the number of earmarks to a total of 11,331 — a 426% increase over the number from last year, when there were just 2,658 earmarks last year. The omnibus alone contains at least 9,170 pork projects, comprising 696 pages, or one-fifth, of the bill.
Here are some of the highlights:
• Beverly Hills Veterans Park ($4,000,000,000)
• Rangel Monument to Me ($2,000,000)
• Rodent control in Alaska ($113,000)
• Olive fruit fly research in France ($213,000)
• Hunting and Fishing Museum in Pennsylvania ($200,000)
• Louis Armstrong Museum in New York ($150,000)
• A bike trail in Minnesota ($700,000)
• A river walk in Massachusetts ($1,000,000)
• A post office museum in downtown Las Vegas ($200,000); and
• The Lincoln Park Zoo in Illinois ($37,000)
No one knows the exact cost of the earmarks in the mammoth omnibus, but they could easily exceed $18 billion, which nearly matches that $18.9 billion spent on earmarks in FY2005.
In comparison, a continuing resolution would result in 2,161 earmarks, which were already included in the Defense appropriations bill.
Hat Tip: Sen. Jim DeMint
1 response so far ↓
Doug Bandow » Blog Archive » Dem Porkers–Bad, but not as Bad as GOP Porkers! // December 19, 2007 at 3:34 am
[...] Heritage Foundation has a helpful “omnibusting” website focused on wasteful spending. They point out that earmarks are up 426 percent this year over last. Alas, that’s still fewer than when the GOP controlled [...]
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