So in addition to that hastily-added provision which will allow the GOP committee chair to look at any American’s income tax returns, the spending bill passed by Congress also includes $15.78 billion in pork projects. Among them:

–$8 million to rehabilitate a “historic cafeteria building” in Oregon’s Crater Lake National Park.

–$100 million in grants to study berries in Alaska, wine in Washington, hydroponic tomatoes in Ohio, and maple syrup in Vermont.

–$300,000 for a parking garage in Auburn, Maine.

–$25,000 for schools in Las Vegas to study the development of mariachi music.

–$300,000 to Missoula, Mont., for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

–$1.1 million for research into the development of baby food and other products made from salmon.

–$1 million to Texas for the World Birding Center.

–$1 million for a Missouri program to convert hog waste into energy.

–$250,000 to Nashville, Tenn., for the Country Music Hall of Fame.

–$100,000 to Punxsutawney, Pa., for a weather museum.

–Thousands of dollars to protect sunflowers in North Dakota.

–$2 million to buy a “presidential yacht.”

–Alaska alone gets $950,000 for a recreation center, $150,000 for a botanical garden, $300,000 for a senior center, $1 million for housing upgrades, $900,000 for an aquarium, and $525,000 for a quarry upgrade. And that’s no a complete list. Because of their powerful senator, whom no one else in the GOP will stand up to, the federal government spends $12,000 on every Alaskan, double the national average.

Might keep that presidential yacht in mind next time you hear politicians blame budget woes for the fact that, for example, our ports aren’t secure, or read that the families of some soldiers in Iraq are holding bakes sales to raise funds for flak jackets.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 22nd, 2004 at 10:10 am by Radley Balko and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.