Pork Barrel Spending Continues to Increase

And you thought that things would change with the takeover of Congress by the Democrats after the last election. The Congress won't change it's wastefulness as long the two-party system (which is really a one-party system) remains in control. The only thing that changes is the name of the party. Just remember that in November when you predictably vote for a Democrat or Republican. This from The Hill Blog.

The picture doesn’t look very sunny for taxpayers. Where CAGW [Citizens Against Government Waste] was able to make apples to apples comparisons, there are increases in numbers of earmarks and the costs associated with them. In the House Labor/HHS bill, the number of earmarks were in nearly a steady state from FY 2008, but the dollar amount shot up dramatically. In total, there are 1,370 earmarks worth a staggering $618.8 million of taxpayer money. This represents a 5 percent increase in number of projects, but a whopping 122 percent increase in dollar amounts over the FY 2008 version, which had 1,305 earmarks costing $277.9 million. The top three porkers were Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii), $168.5 million; Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), $161.3 million; and Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-S.D.), $148.5 million.

The House Financial Services Approps bill went from having 226 earmarks worth $111 million in FY 2008 to having 247 earmarks worth $134.9 million, a 9.3 percent increase in projects and a 21.5 percent increase in dollar amounts.

For the House Commerce, Justice and Science Approps bill, CAGW excavated 1,123 projects at a cost of $409.8 million. The top five porkers are CJS Appropriations Subcommittee member Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) with $9.95 million; CJS Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.) with $9.7 million; CJS Appropriations Subcommittee member C.A “Dutch” Ruppersberger (D-Md.); with $8 million; CJS Appropriations Subcommittee member Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) with $7.9 million and House appropriator Ralph Regula (R-Ohio) with $7.7 million.