DC Watch
The “Porky Pork” Earmarks Most of Us Don’t Care About????
By Carolyn Cormey
Most of us have seen the news or video clip where Senator Chuck Schumer was telling us that most Americans simply do not care about the “porky-pork” earmarks. Apparently this opinion is shared by almost all our Democrat and Republican Legislators, who certainly feel free to stuff earmarks into just about every Bill that is passed! If you are one of the “few” Americans that does care, below is a partial list of the nearly 9,000 earmarks (40% Republican, 60% Democrat) inserted into the “must pass” BLOATED Omnibus Appropriations Bill in a purposed procedural way to make the earmarks unavailable for removal by amendment.
Many of the earmarks listed below are very worthy projects BUT the earmarking Senator or Congressman has chosen not to submit “his or her project” to the appropriations process where proposed expenditures go through Committees who analyze them and prioritize them. Appropriation of our tax dollars by earmarks is CRAZ?Y and shows the growing distain and distrust of Legislative Process by our Legislators, which leaves people in Florida paying $1.7 million for pig order research in Iowa! Read On:
Earmarks in HR-1105 Statement of Managers
- $1.7 million for pig odor research in Iowa;
- $2 million for the promotion of astronomy in Hawaii;
- $6.6 million for termite research in New Orleans;
- $2.1 million for the Center for Grape Genetics in New York;
- $650,000 for beaver management in North Carolina and Mississippi;
- $1 million for mormon cricket control in Utah;
- $332,000 for the design and construction of a school sidewalk in Franklin, Texas;
- $870,000 for wolf breeding facilities in North Carolina and Washington;
- $300,000 for the Montana World Trade Center;
- $1.7M ‘‘for a honey bee factory’’ in Weslaco, TX;
- $951,500 for Sustainable Las Vegas;
- $143,000 for Nevada Humanities to develop and expand an online encyclopedia;
- $475,000 to build a parking garage in Provo City, Utah;
- $200,000 for a tattoo removal violence outreach program in the LA area;
- $238,000 for the Polynesian Voyaging Society in Honolulu, Hawaii;
- $100,000 for the regional robotics training center in Union, SC;
- $1,427,250 for genetic improvements of switch grass;
- $167,000 for the Autry National Center for the American West in LA, CA;
- $143,000 to teach art energy;
- $100,000 for the Central Nebraska World Trade Center;
- $951,500 for Oregon Solar Highway;
- $819,000 for catfish genetics research in Alabama;
- $190,000 for the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, WY;
- $209,000 to improve blueberry production and efficiency in GA; and
- $400,000 for copper wire theft prevention efforts.
- $250,000 to enhance research on Ice Seal populations;
- $238,000 for the Alaska PTA;
- $150,000 for a rodeo museum in South Dakota;
- $47,500 to remodel and expand a playground in Ottawa, IL;
- $285,000 for the Discovery Center of Idaho in Boise, ID;
- $632,000 for the Hungry Horse Project;
- $380,000 for a recreation and fairground area in Kotzebue, AK;
- $118,750 for a building to house an aircraft display in Rantoul, IL;
- $380,000 to revitalize downtown Aliceville, AL;
- $380,000 for lighthouses in Maine;
- $190,000 to build a Living Science Museum in New Orleans, LA;
- $7,100,000 for conservation and recovery of endangered Hawaiian sea turtle
- $900,000 for fish management; $150,000 for lobster research;
- $381,000 for Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York;
- $1.9 million for the Pleasure Beach Water Taxi Service Project, CT;
- $238,000 for Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra for curriculum development;
- $95,000 for Hawaii Public Radio;
- $95,000 for the state of New Mexico to find a dental school location;
- $143,000 for the Dayton Society of Natural History in Dayton, OH;
- $190,000 for the Guam Public Library;
- $143,000 for the Historic Jazz Foundation in Kansas City, MO;
- $3,806,000 for a Sun Grant Initiative in SD; and
- $950,000 for a Convention Center in Myrtle Beach, SC.
The Army Corps of Engineers has an amazing 1,849 individually identified earmarks including:
- $670,000 for Abandoned Mine Restoration in California;
- $59,000 for Dismal Swamp and Dismal Swamp Canal in Virginia;
- $2 million for Chesapeake Bay Oyster Recovery in Maryland and Virginia;
- $3 million for Joseph G. Minish Waterfront in New Jersey;
- $18 million for Middle Rio Grande Restoration in New Mexico;
- $10 million for North Dakota Environmental Infrastructure;
- $5.56 million for Northern Wisconsin Environmental Assistance;
- $546,000 for Surfside-Sunset-Newport Beach in California;
- $3.8 million for Mississippi River Levees; and
- $41.180 million for Yazoo Basin in Mississippi (this is a total for all of the Yazoo Basin projects listed under MRT—Construction).
Agency Earmarks:
- Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies (52 pages of earmarks) Total: 506 earmarks.
- Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations (164 pages of earmarks) - Total: 2,402 earmarks. (Including the 1,849 Earmarks by the Army Corp of Engineers)
- Financial Services and General Government (16 pages of earmarks) Total: 277 earmarks.
- Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies (211 pages of earmarks) Total: 2125 earmarks.
- Department of Education: Total 700 earmarks
- Department of Health and Human Services: Total 1,223 earmarks
- Department of Labor: Employment and Training Administration, 141 earmarks.
- Museums & Libraries, 61 earmarks.
- Legislative Branch Appropriations— Total: 3 earmarks.
- Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies—114 pages of earmarks Total: 1,858 earmarks (including 1,321 Transportation earmarks and 537 Housing and Urban Development Earmarks)
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