CAGW Releases 2008 Congressional Pig Book Summary
Written by Sam on April 3rd, 2008Citizens Against Government Waste have released their Congressional Pig Book Summary of earmarks that were appropriated for 2008. Here are the top Republican porkers:
In the House:
1. Roger Wicker (MS-1) - $176.3 million
2. Bill Young (FL-10) - $169.5 million
6. Jerry Lewis (CA-41) - $139.9 million
12. Jack Kingston (GA-1) - $101.3 million
13. Bobby Jindal (LA-1) - $100.4 million
22. Dave Hobson (OH-7) - $88 million
23. Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ-11) - $86.8 million
24. Heather Wilson (NM-1) - $86.8 million
29. Hal Rogers (KY-5) - $80.7 million
30. Charlie Dent (PA-15) - $77.8 million
Interestingly enough, even in the minority the House GOP managed to take the numbers one and two spots as biggest porker.
In the Senate:
1. Thad Cochran (MS) - $892.2 million
2. Ted Stevens (AK) - $469.4 million
3. Richard Shelby (AL) - $464.5 million
8. Chuck Grassley (IA) - $321.4 million
9. Kit Bond (MO) - $309.8 million
In the Senate, we managed to take the top three spots.
These amounts are obscene.
3
PM
Sometimes I wonder if this is a problem from the congressman’s perspective? If I was representing a group of people before an organization that takes their money, and then burns it, I would request that organization return as much of it as possible.
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PM
Of course it isn’t a problem from their perspective. They keep getting elected, to a non-negligible degree BECAUSE of these pork projects. Congressman don’t do these things because they enjoy them, they do these things because it gets them votes. It’s all benefit, no downside.
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I guess my point is that the problem here is the govt having this money in the first place, not the congressman. Its getting wasted anyway, so it may as well be wasted in my district.
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chemistrydave hit the nail on the head: People get fired up about earmarks and “wasteful” spending as long as its not in their district. When its in their district, those earmarks become sacred.
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PM
I would be perfectly happy if John Spratt didn’t request another earmark in his Congressional future.
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PM
I would be perfectly happy if none of them requested earmarks, but I know I have a better chance of getting a pig to grow wings and fly. Maybe I can get an earmark for such a thing.
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AM
Bobby Jindal in the top tier? That’s incredibly disappointing. I’ve heard him tossed around as a potential future GOP contender for the nomination, but this is a real disappointment.
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PM
Take a look at the states– agriculturally rich or large regions with sparsed populations.
I bet the projects have alot to do with infrastructure or agri-business related. In my book, I have to dig deeper to find out what the funds were for. Numbers by themselves without knowing what it actually means is pointless.
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PM
“Take a look at the states– agriculturally rich or large regions with sparsed populations.”
New Jersey is on that list.
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mattyN I think lousiania congressmen get some sort of pass on the earmarks cause there are a lot of things that are still need to be repaired or replaced down there.