Posted on 04/13/2002 12:04:37 PM PDT by forest
Among the many good things that President Ronald Reagan did while in office was to bring together 161 corporate executives and community leaders -- staffed with an army of nearly 2,000 volunteers -- to study waste and inefficiency in government. Big job, that. But people took the job so seriously that the commission was funded by $76 million in contributions from the private sector.
That, of course was the Grace Commission, which reported back with 2,478 recommendations which, if implemented, would have saved taxpayers an average of $141.5 billion a year -- all without eliminating any essential services.(1)
To say that the federal government reeked with waste and inefficiency was an understatement. It still does.
Later, some of those working on the Grace Commission founded Citizens Against Government Waste.
"Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) is a private, non-partisan, non-profit organization representing more than one million members and supporters nationwide. CAGW's mission is to eliminate waste, mismanagement, and inefficiency in the federal government. Founded in 1984 by the late industrialist J. Peter Grace and syndicated columnist Jack Anderson, CAGW is the legacy of the President's Private Sector Survey on Cost Control, also known as the Grace Commission."
Each year, CAGW puts out what they call their "Pig Book" to identify some of the more outrageous pork projects Members of Congress get for their states.(2) According to CAGW: "The 602 projects, totaling $4.5 billion, in this year's Congressional Pig Book Summary symbolize the most egregious and blatant examples of pork."
Below is an excerpt from the introduction of this years Pig Book. All listings are in tabular form by State. We suggest that everyone take a look at what their own State received and then question their Congress Critters about it. After all, confrontation is the only way we are ever going to get this foolishness to stop.
The opening scene of The Godfather depicts the head of a New York "family," Don Vito Corleone, agreeing to perform certain "favors." Corleone does this with the caveat that the favor may have to be returned some day. This scene is reminiscent of what happens when the President's budget gets into the hands of the appropriators. Members of Congress approach the appropriators asking for favors, promising votes in return. They get the goods through a form of legal money laundering, but taxpayers receive only inflated taxes and a bloated bureaucracy.
Many Americans are oblivious to this process until April 15, when the bill comes due for all of Congress's fiscal indiscretions. This year's total reveals that Congress porked out at record levels. For fiscal 2002, appropriators stuck 8,341 projects in the 13 appropriations bills, an increase of 32 percent over last year's total of 6,333 projects. The cost of these projects was $20.1 billion, or 9 percent more than last year's total of $18.5 billion. Total pork identified by Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) since 1991 is $140 billion.
This excessive spending comes at a time when the country is at war and facing the return of deficits. The $20.1 billion spent on pork-barrel projects could be used to finance the war against terrorism and ensure the safety of all Americans, at home and abroad. Instead, appropriators used the money for everything from studying fruit in Michigan to a racing museum in South Carolina. National priorities were exchanged for parochial interests.
The top three increases in pork from fiscal 2001 to fiscal 2002 were: Transportation from $1.3 billion to $3.6 billion (174 percent); Agriculture from $204 million to $454 million (122 percent); and Commerce/Justice/State from $771 million to $1.2 billion (61 percent).
Alaska again led the nation with $711 per capita ($451 million), or 22 times the national average of $32. The runners up were Hawaii with $353 per capita ($432 million) and West Virginia with $215 per capita ($388 million). The common thread among the top three per-capita states is that they are represented by powerful senators and appropriators -- Senate Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), Senate appropriator Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.).
Before the United States can win the war on terrorism, we must win the war against pork-barrel spending. Every dollar wasted by the federal government means one less dollar to protect the country from enemies near and far.
1. http://www.uhuh.com/taxstuff/gracecom.htm
That, of course was the Grace Commission.
To say that the federal government reeked with waste and inefficiency was an understatement. It still does.
Later, some of those working on the Grace Commission founded Citizens Against Government Waste.
Each year, CAGW puts out what they call their "Pig Book" to identify some of the more outrageous pork projects Members of Congress get for their states.
This excessive spending comes at a time when the country is at war and facing the return of deficits.
http://www.uhuh.com/taxstuff/gracecom.htm
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