Video: Schumer says no one cares about pork

The worst part? He’s probably right:

And let me say this, to all of the chattering class, that so much focuses on those little, tiny — yes, porky — amendments: The American people really don’t care.

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Let’s recall the “tiny” amendments added already to Porkulus, as provided by Tom Coburn — and this is by no means a complete list:

  • $2 billion earmark for FutureGen near zero emissions powerplant in Mattoon, IL
  • $39 billion slush fund for “state fiscal stabilization” bailout
  • $5.5 billion for making federal buildings “green” (including $448 million for DHS HQ)
  • $200 million for workplace safety in USDA facilities
  • $275 million for flood prevention
  • $65 million for watershed rehabilitation
  • $200 million for public computer centers at community colleges and libraries
  • $650 million for the DTV transition coupon program
  • $307 million for constructing NIST office buildings
  • $1 billion for administrative costs and construction of NOAA office buildings
  • $100 million for constructing U.S. Marshalls office buildings
  • $300 million for constructing FBI office buildings
  • $800 million for constructing Federal Prison System buildings and facilities
  • $10 million to fight Mexican gunrunners
  • $1.3 billion for NASA (including $450 million for “science” at NASA)
  • $100 million to clean up sites used in early U.S. atomic energy program
  • $10 million for urban canals
  • $2 billion for manufacturing advanced batteries for hybrid cars
  • $1.5 billion for carbon capture projects under sec. 703 of P.L. 110-140 (though section only authorizes $1 billion for five years)
  • $300 million for hybrid and electric cars for federal employees
  • $198 million to design and furnish the DHS headquarters
  • $255 million for “priority procurements” at Coast Guard (polar ice breaker)
  • $500 million for State and local fire stations
  • $180 million for construction of Bureau of Land Management facilities
  • $500 million for wildland fire management
  • $110 million for construction for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
  • $522 million for construction for the Bureau of Indian Affairs
  • $650 million for abandoned mine sites
  • $75 million for the Smithsonian Institution
  • $1.2 billion for summer jobs for youth
  • $412 million for CDC headquarters
  • $500 million earmark for NIH facilities in Bethesda, MD
  • $160 million for “volunteers” at the Corp. for National and Community Service
  • $750 earmark for the National Computer Center in MD
  • $224 million for International Boundary and Water Commission – U.S. and Mexico
  • $850 million for Amtrak
  • $100 million for lead paint hazard reduction
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Reporting this kind of pork used to be called speaking Truth to Power.  Now it’s just called speaking Truth to Apathy, at least according to Uncle Chuck.

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