red states rule
06-06-2015, 10:54 AM
As the country piles up the debt, the Feds keep living large. Just keep the party going and nothing but the best for the Federal government and its "workers"
WASHINGTON (WJLA) – Three years ago, the Pentagon called the U.S. Military’s M1 Abrams tanks outdated and unfit for modern-day warfare, yet in the last year, lawmakers increased funding for the M1 program from $90 million $120 million. Millions more from the defense budget is also spent on medical research for diseases like breast cancer and Alzheimer’s, research often duplicated at other agencies.
“The business of the Department of Defense (DOD) is not to fund health programs or research,” Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Wednesday. “That’s the business of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Sen. McCain and four other lawmakers attended the annual release of the Congressional Pig Book (http://www.cagw.org/sites/default/files/pdf/Pig-Book-2015.pdf) on Wednesday. The book is compiled every year by Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW). The taxpayer watchdog group based in Washington has published the book, which highlights taxpayer waste, since 1991
While spending by the DOD makes up the majority of what CAGW calls “pork,” there are plenty of other programs identified in the 2015 Congressional Pig Book.
Examples include $2.6 million for the Denali Commission, an infrastructure program in rural Alaska, declared by its own inspector general to be a “failed experiment.”
A $51 million drug trafficking program was also listed in the book: "Sixteen of the earmarks were directed to programs in 10 states, only two of which—Arizona and New Mexico—are border states. The other eight states that received HIDTA [High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas] earmarks were Alabama, Hawaii, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, New Jersey, Tennessee and Wisconsin."
Many members of Congress insist there is no longer pork in legislation, but CAGW President Tom Schatz said lawmakers have simply changed the definition of what is and is not an earmark.
“Earmarks are costly, they lead to corruption, they lead to more expensive pieces of legislation,” Schatz said.
From 2014 to 2015, the number of earmarks decreased from 109 to 105, but spending on those earmarks actually increased from $2.7 billion to $4.2 billion, Schatz said.
http://www.wjla.com/articles/2015/05/2015-congressional-pig-book-says-dod-spending-accounts-for-much-of-pork--113968.html
WASHINGTON (WJLA) – Three years ago, the Pentagon called the U.S. Military’s M1 Abrams tanks outdated and unfit for modern-day warfare, yet in the last year, lawmakers increased funding for the M1 program from $90 million $120 million. Millions more from the defense budget is also spent on medical research for diseases like breast cancer and Alzheimer’s, research often duplicated at other agencies.
“The business of the Department of Defense (DOD) is not to fund health programs or research,” Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Wednesday. “That’s the business of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Sen. McCain and four other lawmakers attended the annual release of the Congressional Pig Book (http://www.cagw.org/sites/default/files/pdf/Pig-Book-2015.pdf) on Wednesday. The book is compiled every year by Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW). The taxpayer watchdog group based in Washington has published the book, which highlights taxpayer waste, since 1991
While spending by the DOD makes up the majority of what CAGW calls “pork,” there are plenty of other programs identified in the 2015 Congressional Pig Book.
Examples include $2.6 million for the Denali Commission, an infrastructure program in rural Alaska, declared by its own inspector general to be a “failed experiment.”
A $51 million drug trafficking program was also listed in the book: "Sixteen of the earmarks were directed to programs in 10 states, only two of which—Arizona and New Mexico—are border states. The other eight states that received HIDTA [High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas] earmarks were Alabama, Hawaii, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, New Jersey, Tennessee and Wisconsin."
Many members of Congress insist there is no longer pork in legislation, but CAGW President Tom Schatz said lawmakers have simply changed the definition of what is and is not an earmark.
“Earmarks are costly, they lead to corruption, they lead to more expensive pieces of legislation,” Schatz said.
From 2014 to 2015, the number of earmarks decreased from 109 to 105, but spending on those earmarks actually increased from $2.7 billion to $4.2 billion, Schatz said.
http://www.wjla.com/articles/2015/05/2015-congressional-pig-book-says-dod-spending-accounts-for-much-of-pork--113968.html