Vivek Saxena writes for BizPac Review about the latest evidence of congressional waste.
Citizens Against Government Waste, a nonprofit, has published its annual “Congressional Pig Book,” and it’s a doozy.
Published annually since 1991, the “Congressional Big Book” contains a compilation of all the wasteful “pork-barrel” projects in the federal budget pursued by both Democrats and Republicans.
Covering last year’s budget, this year’s book reportedly contains 8,222 earmarks costing a whopping $22.7 billion.
Of the legislators who pursued earmarks, Rep. Susan Collins, a Republican, pursued the most.
“Her 231 earmarks cost $575,580,000, which is $109,429,721, or 23.5 percent more than the legislator in second place, Senate Appropriations Committee member Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who received 185 earmarks costing $466,370,279,” the book reads.
Most of the earmarks were directed toward the Army Corps of Engineers.
“Since FY 1996, members of Congress have added 7,566 earmarks for the Corps, costing taxpayers $20.9 billion,” the book notes. “The earmarks in the FY 2024 bill and all other Energy and Water appropriations bills with earmarks since 2014 contravene the provisions of the Water Resources Development Act of 2014, which excluded earmarks for any water projects, including the Army Corps of Engineers.”
Meanwhile, $17.5 million was earmarked for improvements to the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum in Abilene, Kansas.
Who’s to blame for all this wasted money? It’s really both parties, though Republicans at least tried to make a difference by banning earmarks in 2010. But then 11 years later, Democrats reversed the ban.
A year later, Republicans “voted to keep earmarks for spending bills in December 2022, which was a defeat for Republicans looking to rein in spending on ‘pork,’” according to the Washington Examiner.
Things got even worse once Hakeem Jeffries took over as House Democrat leader.
“In exchange for votes to prevent a government shutdown, Jeffries pushed Republican leaders to agree to increase the amount of money for earmarks allotted to Democrats in the transportation, housing, and urban development appropriations bill,” the Examiner notes.
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Author: Mitch Kokai
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