Pork-busting group posts searchable Congressional pork database
posted at 4:10 pm on November 27, 2007 by Bryan
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High rolling porksters like Jack Murtha are not going to like this.
Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today makes public a comprehensive, searchable database of the 2,243 earmarks worth $1 billion in the Fiscal 2008 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (Labor-HHS) Appropriations Act, H.R. 3043.
“CAGW provides taxpayers with the information that Congress wants to keep under wraps: a convenient, searchable database of earmarked spending,” said CAGW President Tom Schatz. “With our more transparent format, pork gems such as $882,025 for 25 “abstinence education” programs in the state of Pennsylvania, $500,000 for the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas, Nevada, and $400,000 for Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York are more easily found.”
President George W. Bush vetoed the Labor-HHS bill on November 13, and told Congress, “This bill has too many earmarks. I set out clear goals for the Congress to reform the earmarking process. The Congress chose not to put earmarks in bill text, instead including nearly all in report language, and they did not reach the goal of cutting the cost and number of earmarks by at least half.”
Here’s the database. Download it and have at it. If anyone of you finds anything fun in it, let the rest of us know in the comments or shoot me an email. The Charlie Rangel Monument to Me and the Clinton/Schumer Hsu School earmark have already been sniffed out.
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Heeeere, piggy-piggy-piggy…
Frozen Tex on November 27, 2007 at 4:18 PM
The media ranted about the “Bridge to nowhere” but will they point out the pork this time ?
William Amos on November 27, 2007 at 4:20 PM
its slightly comforting to know that the vast majority of projects go to hospitals and other assorted medical centers. next on the list seems to be colleges, another group that has grown to depend on federal handouts to stay afloat. however, skimming through new york i found a little $300,000 gift for the American Airpower Museum. now, yes it sounds kickass…and yes, $300,000 is a drop in the bucket…but common, was that necessary?
ernesto on November 27, 2007 at 4:29 PM
Front-page screencap: “Representative John Murtha is shown here waving to crowds along the streets of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. No, the dam did not burst again – he is swimming in a sea of earmark pork so powerful that he himself was metamorphosed…”
eeyore on November 27, 2007 at 4:29 PM
Hawaii 44 mil, NY and CA around 45 to 50 mil.
Hawaii has some pull. But Iowa at 80 mil. I thing Iowa is the sweepstakes winner.
right2bright on November 27, 2007 at 4:30 PM
OOps, Alaska at 96 mil. They win, and still no oil.
right2bright on November 27, 2007 at 4:32 PM
Oink, oink, oink.
Good work.
In my office, this will come in handy starting right now.
Mike D. on November 27, 2007 at 4:32 PM
♫Have you seen the bigger piggies♫
♫In their starched white shirts♫
♫You will find the bigger piggies♫
♫Stirring up the dirt♫
♪Always have clean shirts♪
♪To play around in♪
(by George Harrison, from the Beatles “white album”)
Bigfoot on November 27, 2007 at 4:34 PM
This one is strange. B.J. Stupak was the 17 year old son of Bart Stupak (D) who committed suicide before his Junior Prom. I knew he was in the football team, and I’m sure Rep. Stupak was grieving… but why put federal money into a scholarship in his 17 year old son’s name? Particularly for a field he never got into.
Though it’s nice to know that overall my Rep. only has four pork thingys. Other than that $970,000 scholarship in his son’s name he’s also written $700,000 for hospitals in the area.
Keljeck on November 27, 2007 at 4:36 PM
Wow…$210,000 for this:
Western Oregon University, Monmouth, for equipping a nursing simulation laboratory (Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education – Department of Education)
Hmmm…I didn’t need a laboratory to figure this one out…maybe it’s for the 12 – 14 yr olds having babies…sick.
Or maybe I am reading this wrong….
heatherrc77 on November 27, 2007 at 4:39 PM
96 million for Alaska, thats the biggest I see so far. Compared to 25 million for Texas and 49 million for California.
Population wise this does not add up to me.
conservnut on November 27, 2007 at 4:41 PM
And…$254,900 for this:
Hermiston, to support programs and systems for Latino education (Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education – Department of Education)
heatherrc77 on November 27, 2007 at 4:42 PM
The U.P. of Michigan is getting $1,670,000.
Keljeck on November 27, 2007 at 4:43 PM
Postsecondary and nursing more likely refers to the profession of Nursing, as in, Nurses.
Frozen Tex on November 27, 2007 at 4:45 PM
Well, for that amount of money, I would gladly show’em how it’s done!!
heatherrc77 on November 27, 2007 at 4:46 PM
How ’bout not eating everything in the fridge that doesn’t bite back…there, can I have my $125 grand please?!?!?
kiakjones on November 27, 2007 at 4:50 PM
$250K for this:
Community Agricultural Vocational Institute, Yakima for training of agricultural workers (Employment and Training Administration – Department of Labor)
It’s funny, cause these agricultural workers are usually all illegal immigrants here in WA.
heatherrc77 on November 27, 2007 at 4:51 PM
Based on 2005 population data, here is how my earlier figures come out. For every man, woman and child in Alaska, the government has $144.65 in earmarks.
California $1.35
Texas $1.09
WTF!!!
conservnut on November 27, 2007 at 4:53 PM
That’s probably why they keep on electing Ted “Series of Tubes” Stevens.
Keljeck on November 27, 2007 at 4:54 PM
From old Bobby Byrd in West By-God Virginia:
WTF is a “virtual” colonoscopy? Wouldn’t the real thing be more useful?
BacaDog on November 27, 2007 at 4:57 PM
As a Texan, I am sooooo ticked off.
Labamigo on November 27, 2007 at 4:59 PM
Sorry, my data was incorrect, I found more for Alaska.
Make that $162.73 per person.
conservnut on November 27, 2007 at 4:59 PM
I don’t know but having had the real kind, this one sounds much better!
conservnut on November 27, 2007 at 5:01 PM
That’s what we get for being a state full of productive members of society.
conservnut on November 27, 2007 at 5:02 PM
It’s a CT or MRI-based scan that’s…uh…non-invasive. Unfortunately, it’s not quite as detailed as the “real” thing.
eeyore on November 27, 2007 at 5:03 PM
I’m gonna disagree with you on that one. I’ve heard about this one, and if they can check my colon without sticking anything up my ass…I’m in and you can use tax payer money.
sunny on November 27, 2007 at 5:04 PM
Oh. I thought I was going to have to use my webcam and send the pictures in.
BacaDog on November 27, 2007 at 5:08 PM
I am thinking that this list of earmarks qualifies.
Jaibones on November 27, 2007 at 5:23 PM
Isn’t that a freakin’ suprise! I’ll allow others to caption this one as well. Why am I paying for others’ irresponsible lifestyles?
RMCS_USN on November 27, 2007 at 5:28 PM
Most of the PA ones I saw(and there are many, many,many)have Specter’s name on them.
jeanie on November 27, 2007 at 5:30 PM
FYI: Oprah last week had a special program devoted to the personally endorsed works of President Clinton. In the education feature, Agassi’s Las Vegas school was the subject. President Clinton went on and on about how important Agassi’s school is for Las Vegas children living in poverty.
Just a heads up.
gabriel sutherland on November 27, 2007 at 6:08 PM
If you Cut Stevens from the Republican party, the Republican pork expenses loose 1/3.
StoutRepublican on November 27, 2007 at 6:09 PM
A nursing simulator is a life-size mannequin that has a heartbeat, can be given shots and have other medical procedures performed upon it. They’re quite a good learning tool, from what I understand, and allow nursing students to get training without using actual patients as guinea pigs.
Slublog on November 27, 2007 at 7:05 PM
Awwwright! Now this is progress !
petefrt on November 27, 2007 at 9:41 PM
This is great! If you don’t use Excel too often, do this to get the most out of this list:
1. Click in the list then Data > Filter > Autofilter.
2. A drop-down option is added to every column at the top of the list. Pick something so that the list is filtered.
If you want to keep a tally of how much they’re blowing on any particular dataset, while the list is filtered, click in the cell in column B under the last entry. Then click the Autosum (the Greek sigma symbol button in the toolbar) button to put a total at the bottom of the list and you’re all set – no matter how you filter the list, you’ve always got a total.
I thought 8 million for La. was pretty bad, but then I checked Alaska’s 96 million – good grief. And 44 million for New York – Senator Clinton has been busy personally signing onto 21 million of that.
Laura on November 28, 2007 at 12:37 AM
None of this seems to add up. Isn’t this pork in just one bill? They have been larding up any bill going through Congress with pork haven’t they? I thought even the Hurricane relief (Rita/Katrina) was full of pork.
I’d like to see a database with ALL pork in it.
91Veteran on November 28, 2007 at 12:45 AM
Didn’t Congress promise America that there would be earmark reform?
SoulGlo on November 28, 2007 at 2:42 AM
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