From Bush, Foe of Earmarks, Similar Items
By ROBERT PEAR
New York Times
WASHINGTON — President Bush often denounces the propensity of Congress to earmark money for pet projects. But in his new budget, Mr. Bush has requested money for thousands of similar projects.
He asked for money to build fish hatcheries, eradicate agricultural pests, conduct research, pave highways, dredge harbors and perform many other specific local tasks.
The details are buried deep in the president’s budget, just as most Congressional earmarks are buried in obscure committee reports that accompany spending bills.
Thus, for example, the president requested $330 million to deal with plant pests like the emerald ash borer, the light brown apple moth and the sirex woodwasp. He sought $800,000 for the Neosho National Fish Hatchery in Missouri and $1.5 million for a waterway named in honor of former Senator J. Bennett Johnston, a Louisiana Democrat.
At the same time, Mr. Bush requested $894,000 for an air traffic control tower in Kalamazoo, Mich.; $12 million for a parachute repair shop at the American air base in Aviano, Italy; and $6.5 million for research in Wyoming on the “fundamental properties of asphalt.”
(Continued here.)
New York Times
WASHINGTON — President Bush often denounces the propensity of Congress to earmark money for pet projects. But in his new budget, Mr. Bush has requested money for thousands of similar projects.
He asked for money to build fish hatcheries, eradicate agricultural pests, conduct research, pave highways, dredge harbors and perform many other specific local tasks.
The details are buried deep in the president’s budget, just as most Congressional earmarks are buried in obscure committee reports that accompany spending bills.
Thus, for example, the president requested $330 million to deal with plant pests like the emerald ash borer, the light brown apple moth and the sirex woodwasp. He sought $800,000 for the Neosho National Fish Hatchery in Missouri and $1.5 million for a waterway named in honor of former Senator J. Bennett Johnston, a Louisiana Democrat.
At the same time, Mr. Bush requested $894,000 for an air traffic control tower in Kalamazoo, Mich.; $12 million for a parachute repair shop at the American air base in Aviano, Italy; and $6.5 million for research in Wyoming on the “fundamental properties of asphalt.”
(Continued here.)
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1 Comments:
All earmarks are not created equal … Bush says "Do what I say and not what I do".
Democrats running for re-election this fall will have explain the difference between an earmark and pork-barrel spending. Sadly, the GOP is guilty but is shifting the blame to the Democrats.
The Club for Growth has compiled a RePORK Card of all members' votes on 50 anti-pork amendments.
24 Republicans voted against every single amendment. John Bohner only got a 60% rating on the RePork Card.
IF only the Republicans votes counted, then 9 would have not passed instead of the 1 that did pass. The one that did pass had a bare margin of 6 votes from Republicans but the Democrats had a 69 vote margin. That project that was rejected may have more to do what it was named -- the "perfect Christmas tree" project … which was actually a small business incubator created to offset the one-third manufacturing jobs that were lost in North Carolina furniture and in textile industries.
It would be pure speculation if other programs were voted based on if the district was carried by Kerry in 2004, but there seems that New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia projects were rejected. It could be questioned if any of these votes were politically motivated since so many are associated with prominent Democrats.
Dollar-wise, there is only one significant project on the list. The National Drug Intelligence Center was created by President George H.W. Bush and drug czar Bill Bennet in 1990 and sits in John Murtha’s (D) district at $39 million while all the others range from $129,000 (the only one that was rejected) to $2 million.
Instead of John Mr. Earmark-Free Kline proclaiming a "pork-free diet" why doesn't he scrutinize the Bush budget and comment on the "necessity" of Bush's earmarks. How hard can that be in a $3 trillion spending plan? For example, Aircraft and weapons: $45.6 billion, a $4.9 billion increase, that would include purchases of fighter planes such as the F-22A. The F-22 was originally designed as an air superiority fighter for use against the Soviet Air Force. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) sent a 13-page letter on June 20, 2006 to then-House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman C.W. (Bill) Young urging Congress to stop funding this program due to its high cost and the fact that the aircraft is out of date. The GAO said, "DOD has not demonstrated the need or value for making further investments in the F-22A program." The GAO also noted that the F-22s "are not sufficient to be effective in the current and future national security environment." There are 22 test F-35 aircrafts that are more modern, effective, and cheaper. In 2003, Popular Science reported the F-22 had a price tag of $120 million each while the F-35 cost $35 million. In June 2006, the GAO report raised the F-22's numbers, concluding that the multi-year contract would drive per-plane costs up to $183 million from $166 million.
The current DOD appropriation contained 2,161 earmarks valued at $7.9 billion.
Projects from the Defense Authorization for Minnesota Congressmembers :
$3,500,000 Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) involving Alliant Techsystems Inc. of Edina by Ramstad
$1,200,000 Field Maintenance Shop (FMS) Directed Design involving the Minnesota National Guard by Walz
$3,000,000 Mortar Anti- Personnel Anti-Material (MAPAM) Technology involving ATK in Edina by Ramstad
$1,000,000 Passive Walking Beam Tracked Platform for Unmanned Ground Vehicles involving MATTRACKS, Inc. in Karlstad
$3,000,000 Plasma Sterilizer involving Phygen Ind. in Minneapolis by Ellison and McCollum
$1,500,000 Rotocraft Survivability Assessment Facility involving MTS Systems of Eden Prairie by Ramstad
$3,000,000 Satellite Multi-Modal Collaborative Crisis and Training Network involving Camp Ripley by Oberstar
$2,000,000 Severe Battlefield Injury Treatment: Technology to Prevent Compartment Syndrome involving Twin Star Medical in Minneapolis by McCollum
$2,000,000 FlexTrain exportable Combat Training Capability involving Camp Ripley by Oberstar
Minnesota is small potatoes.
It’s a game.
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