Submitted by CARPE DIEM

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Parade Magazine–Last month, Congress passed a 3,500-page omnibus spending bill after less than 24 hours for review. The bill, which mostly renewed funding for existing programs, contained more than 9,000 “earmarks”—worth at least $7.4 billion—for legislators’ pet projects, including:

  • Olive fruit fly research in France: $213,000
  • Center for Grape Genetics in Geneva, N.Y.: $1.9 million
  • Fish-waste research in Alaska: $2.5 million
  • Awning renovations in Roanoke, Va.: $250,000
  • Cormorant control in Vermont, Michigan, Mississippi and New York: $1.2 million

    • The real problem with earmarks, says Rep. Jeff Flake (R., Ariz.), is that “they circumvent the normal process,” since they typically are placed in bills without discussion. Thus, lawmakers never get to debate them and find out if they’re genuinely necessary—or just more pork.

    (HT: NCPA)

    See a related WSJ article “MURTHA INC.: How A Lawmaker Rebuilt Hometown on Earmarks,” about the top Congressional earmarkers (see list above), and the #1 Leader of the Pork, Rep. John Murtha.

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