| A
Barrel Full of Pork Fat |
| While England is trying to cope with deadly foot and mouth
disease, a virus that can spread through farms faster than
the wind, killing cows, sheep and pigs, the United States
continues to fight its own form of barnyard disasters. |
| Here we call it the "Pork Barrel Syndrome." It's a disease
that U.S. Congressmen naturally carry in their brains and
hearts, adding unneeded funding to bills to finance projects
in their home states. |
| But fear not. We have some watchful eyes out there looking
for these barrels filled with pork fat that no one really
needs. |
| A group called Citizens Against Government Waste just this
month published its "2001 Congressional Pig Book Summary."
|
| It's subtitled, "The Book Washington Doesn't Want You to
Read." |
| Here are some samples. |
| $450,000 added by the Senate for Pacific ornamental tropical
fish research. |
| $500,000 added for the National Institute of Corrections
to study whether the location of illegal alien-holding facilities
along the southern boarder contributes to the illegal alien
problem. |
| $750,000 added by the Senate for aquaculture product and
marketing in West Virginia, home of Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.),
the ranking member on the Appropriations Committee. Since
1998, $2,850,000 has been appropriated for this research. |
| $250,000 for Vidalia onion research in the state of House
Agriculture Appropriations subcommittee member Jack Kingston
(R-Ga.). |
| $200,000 added by the House for barley food health benefits
research. |
| $1,800,000 added for the Center of Rural Law Enforcement
Technology and Training in Hazard, Ky. It was part of $22
million added for a variety of Kentucky-based programs. |
| $12,000,000 added by the Senate for the Legacy program
to preserve sunken Civil War ships. |
| $1,000,000 added in conference to teach citizens to "...have
a greater respect for the flag." |
| $1,000,000 added in conference for the Hollings Cancer
Center in South Carolina. The center is in the state of Sen.
Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.), for whom the center was named. |
| $400,000 added in conference for the Cochran Fellowship
Program in provide non-academic training that will acquaint
Russian farmers with American practices. The program was named
for Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) in 1984. |
| $26,000,000 added by the House for barracks renewal at
Camp Hovey, South Korea. |
| $500,000 added by the House for access to the Manassas
Battlefield, the district of Frank Wolf (R-Va.) who sits on
the Transportation Appropriations subcommittee. |
| $400,000 added by the Senate for renovation of the Portland
Pioneer Courthouse Square lobby. Money came from the transportation
committee; project has nothing to do with transportation. |
| And some awards: |
| The Narcissist Award: To Sen Thad Cochran (R-Miss) for $1.4
million for the Thad Cochran national Warmwater Aquaculture
Center and the Cochran Fellowship Program. |
| The American Expense Award: To Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska)
for his $480 million in pork for fiscal year 2001. That's
$766 per person. |
| The Erin Go Broke Award: For $25 million for the International
Fund for Ireland. |
| The Taxpayers Get Tanked Award: For $648,000 for ornamental
fish research. |
| The Green Eggs and Ham Award: For $550,000 to the Springfield,
Mass., Library Museum for a national memorial to Dr. Seuss. |
| Of course, some of the pork barrel incidents cited by the
Citizens Against Government Waste don't really seem like such
a waste. For instance, included in the group's book are millions
of dollars spent for medical research, language training,
military research, housing projects, agriculture research
and the such. |
| It's a fact that the "greasy wheel gets the most grease,"
and Democrat Sen. Robert Byrd from West Virginia is the king
of the grease monkeys. He is a super success at securing money
and projects for West Virginians, whether they need them or
not. |
| I guess in the end it's why we elect the representatives
we do‚to have some of those federal and state tax dollars
thrown our way. Now, if only we can get some funds for highways
in Northern Virginia. That's the kind of pork barrel we all
can live with. |
| And that's Our Town this week. |
