Omnibusting: Omnibus Spending Bill, Earmarks, Pork and Budget Gimmicks

The Heritage Foundation’s team of fiscal watchdogs has volunteered to help educate members of Congress and the White House about the tricks, gimmicks and earmarks stuffed into the mammoth omnibus spending bill.

We've made the omnibus searchable. Type in a word and see if you can find anything interesting. Or if you'd rather read it one section at a time, we've made it available in HTML.

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Culture, Heritage, Business -- Do It All on a Pork Vacation Tour


Pork spending must be as American as apple pie, the way members of Congress pack the federal budget with pet projects for their home districts. It's easy to take your pick of cultural curiosities with an "Americana" theme to plan a Pork Vacation Tour for the New Year. After all, Congress slipped in more than 11,300 budget-busting "earmarks" before Christmas. Here are just a few "destination" pork stops sure to delight any red-blooded American taxpayer.

Congress Brushes Off $20 Billion as 'Table Scraps'

To some in Washington, $20 billion over budget may not sound like much. House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wisc.) shrugged it off as “table scraps.” But $20 billion is real money to taxpayers. To reach that amount would take every federal income tax dollar paid in 2005 by residents of North Dakota, Vermont, Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana, Alaska, Delaware and Maine combined.

Hug a Lobster on the Pork Vacation Tour

Want to ward off the post-Christmas blues? Pile the family into the minivan for a Pork Vacation Tour spotlighting critters that eat into your household budget. Watch a bevy of bugs and beasts -- from beetles to beavers and crickets to rats -- gobble up your tax dollars. Members of Congress stuffed more than 11,300 budget-busting "earmarks" into the omnibus spending bill to commit billions to such pet projects. Now they're happy for you to write the check.

Go Hog Wild for Christmas on a Pork Vacation Tour



A little strapped for cash this Christmas? Here's an idea: Congress is spending your money like crazy, so why not take the family to see stuff you've already paid for? This holiday season, plan your own Pork Vacation Tour. Visit just a few of the 11,300 exciting pork-barrel projects tucked away in the House and Senate spending bills. Explain to the kids that -- no matter where you live -- you paid for it.

© 2007 The Heritage Foundation

Photo by Andrew Blasko

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