The Swine Line

THe Hill newspaper reports on items stuck into what is supposed to be a WAR bill.
Senate panel approves Iraq war funding bill

A number of Republicans have joined Democrats in pushing to beef up the domestic spending in the supplemental measure, recognizing that the must-pass bill remains one of the few pieces of legislation likely [...]

Filed under: In The News, Pork, Supplemental, Waste | No Comments »

Sen. Charles “Chuck” Schumer (D-N.Y.)
Washington Office:
Phone: 202-224-6542
Fax: 202-228-3027
http://schumer.senate.gov/
Email Form
CAGW Names Sen. Charles Schumer Porker of the Month 

Filed under: Pork, Porker, Waste | No Comments »

The Hill newspaper reports that the infamous $23 million NDIC earmark, over which 2007 Porker of the Year winner John Murtha threw a temper tantrum and threatened a colleague last year, was removed from this year’s intelligence bill:
Dems, GOP together nix Murtha earmark
Democrats and Republicans joined together to strip a pet project of Rep. John [...]

Filed under: Earmarks, In The News, Pork, Porker, Reform, Victories, Waste | No Comments »

It’s that time of the year again - time to load up the “Emergency” War Supplemental.  The hijinx are in full swing with billions of dollars being diverted from a bill that is supposed to go to the troops in the battlefield:
Roll Call: Supplemental Roils Congress

Despite pressure from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Speaker [...]

Filed under: Appropriations, Defense, Earmarks, In The News, Pork, Supplemental, Waste | No Comments »

Read this terrrific op ed in today’s WSJ on our nation’s ridiculous, costly, and increasingly incomprehensible attachment to federally-subsidized food-to-fuel schemes and the havoc they are wreaking across the globe: 
…All it took was a mere global “food crisis.” Last week chief economist Joseph Glauber of the USDA, which has been among Big Ethanol’s best friends in Washington, blamed biofuels [...]

Filed under: Energy, In The News, Pork, Waste | No Comments »

Wouldn’t you like to take unlimited days off from work while still receiving your full salary?  Maybe you should run for Congress!  You’d also get a free car and a pay raise every year.
“Um, Yes, Senator Reid, Cough Cough, I’m Sick Again”
Here’s one way to tell who is the least elitist, out-of-touch presidential candidate: Which [...]

Filed under: In The News, Pork, Waste | No Comments »

How much should it cost to restore salmon to a river?  Try $22 million per salmon under legislation that is moving through Congress. 
The salmon saga began seventy-five years ago, when the state of California decided to divert water from the San Joaquin River and use it for agricultural purposes.  Twenty year ago, a lawsuit was [...]

Filed under: In The News, Pork, State Issues, Waste | 1 Comment »

Two press releases for today:
CAGW Commends Decision on Cap of High-Cost Fund for USF
Washington, D.C. - Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today commended the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) for its decision on reform of the Universal Service Fund (USF) and applauded the agency’s efforts to cap the out-of-control subsidies that consumers are financing. …
CCAGW Statement [...]

Filed under: Farm Bill, Pork, Telecommunications, Waste | No Comments »

Wastewatcher, April 2008

Coconut Road Outrage
by Leslie K. Paige
An update on the ongoing drama associated with what Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) has dubbed “the immaculate earmark.”
Fill’er Up with Politics
by Elizabeth Wright
The Air Force refueling tanker saga started with a provision added to the fiscal 2002 Defense Appropriations Act directing the Air Force to lease 100 [...]

Filed under: Defense, Earmarks, Pork, Waste, Wastewatcher | No Comments »

Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), the nation’s premiere taxpayer watchdog, and the Tennessee Center for Policy Research (TCPR), Tennessee’s free market think tank, unveiled the 2008 Tennessee Pork Report: Waste, Fraud and Abuse of Your Tax Dollars Exposed.  The report is the third Tennessee Pork Report in as many years to expose wasteful spending by [...]

Filed under: Piglet, Pork, State Issues, Waste | No Comments »

Former President Clinton (who is among those who have claimed to be unfairly undertaxed and should put his money where his mouth is) has taken full advantage of the perks available to him for having held the presidential office. 
The Politico reports: 
Taxpayers fund Bill Clinton spending
The Clintons have made a $100-million fortune since leaving the White House, but [...]

Filed under: Entitlements, In The News, Waste | 1 Comment »

Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) and the Illinois Policy Institute have released the 2008 Illinois Piglet Book, identifying $686 million in wasteful spending in the state budget.  
The $686 Million in Illinois Wasteful Spending includes:
·      $4 million for a Ford Technical Training Center in Chicago Heights;
·      $1 million for the Illinois film office in Chicago;
·      $920,000 [...]

Filed under: Piglet, State Issues, Waste | No Comments »

because that wouldn’t be fair.  It’s just that his list of earmark requests for fiscal year 2009 happens to be among the first to begin trickling out to the public. 
It won’t be long until he is joined by a legion of other pork-barrel spenders and we’ll try to keep you abreast of the tsunami of requests that continue to roll into the committees.  [...]

Filed under: Appropriations, Budget, Earmarks, Pig Book, Pork, Waste | No Comments »

…the census is a $14 billion mess. 
You would think that after 200 plus years the federal government could be counted on to perform one of its few constitutionally mandated jobs without making a hash of it.  In 2000, the government was so ill-prepared Congress had to pass an emergency supplemental bill to fund the decennial headcount.  The build up to the [...]

Filed under: In The News, Technology, Waste | No Comments »

March
Rhetorical Flim-Flam
By Alexa Moutevelis=In the wake of the March 13 vote on a one-year moratorium on congressional earmarks, it is time for a post-mortem on who said what in the heat of the battle. 
Corn Ethanol is Not a Panacea
By Elizabeth Wright
All is not rosy with corn ethanol and other biofuels, according to a February 7 [...]

Filed under: Budget, Earmarks, Pork, Waste, Wastewatcher | No Comments »

In today’s Washington Post:
County Executive to Get $65,000 Bathroom
As Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett works to raise taxes and eliminate 225 jobs, a construction crew is installing a bathroom in his locked suite of offices, complete with a small sitting room and shower. The cost to taxpayers: $65,225.
Leggett’s aides said yesterday that his security detail [...]

Filed under: In The News, Pork, State Issues, Waste | No Comments »

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) took to the Senate floor just minutes ago and made his case for a full-year, no-exceptions earmark moratorium (link to whole speech) 
Here’s a slideshow from Sen. DeMint’s Earmark Moratorium Rally, featuring PigFoot in many slides.

Filed under: Appropriations, Budget, Earmarks, Pork, Reform, Video, Waste | 1 Comment »

Boeing Brouhaha
Lawmakers may be using the Boeing Tanker decision for their own political gain, says Tom Schatz Citizens Against Government Waste president, ; with CNBC’s Becky Quick

Filed under: Defense, In The News, Media Hits, Video, Waste | No Comments »

CAGW was a vocal critic of the original Boeing deal that collapsed in scandal (background here) and now CCAGW has come out in support of the procurement process that resulted in a new $35 billion air refueling tanker contract (read today’s press release here) 
The CQ Today Print Edition reports on Hill reaction to the air [...]

Filed under: Defense, In The News, Pork, Waste | No Comments »

This Associated Press article on Medicare auditing quotes CAGW:
Audits Sting Hospitals, Physicians
While the contractors are often described as overzealous, that’s a compliment as far as one watchdog group is concerned.
“A little zealotry is what were looking for on the part of the taxpayers,” said Leslie Paige, spokeswoman for Citizens Against Government Waste. “We think it’s [...]

Filed under: Healthcare, In The News, Media Hits, Medicare/aid, Waste | No Comments »

February 2008
Europe Assaults U.S. Businesses
By Tom Schatz, President, Citizens Against Government Waste and Matthew Elliott, Chief Executive, British TaxPayers’ Alliance
Unfortunately for taxpayers and investors, European regulators are abusing their power in a manner that will adversely impact the ability of the world to avoid the worst results of the current slowdown.
Murtha Named Porker of the [...]

Filed under: Pork, Waste, Wastewatcher | 1 Comment »

… is Rep. John “Jack” Murtha (D-Pa.)!
Congratulations to him and all our other nominees.
Thank you for voting!

Filed under: Appropriations, Earmarks, Pork, Porker, Waste | 1 Comment »

ABC15 in Phoenix had an explosive story on Friday night detailing how millions of Homeland Security dollars have been wasted while the security of hundreds of federal buildings has not been assessed.  What has been assessed?  Sen. Diane Feinstein’s $14 million home.
Watch the video here
ABC15 Uncovers Serious Gaps in Homeland Security
Potential targets include the Federal Court [...]

Filed under: Homeland Security, In The News, Media Hits, Video, Waste | 1 Comment »

are California Reps. Lois Capps (D) and Devin Nunes (R) for attempting to impede the recovery of hundreds of millions in overpayments to Medicare providers in the state of California.  Read Porker here and read more background on the story here and here.

Filed under: Medicare/aid, Pork, Porker, Waste | No Comments »

On Friday, January 8, CBS Evening News with Katie Couric will be airing a piece by Investigative Reporter Sharyl Attkisson on improper payments in the Medicare program and the recovery auditing program’s successes in recovering millions in overpayments to hospitals in California, New York, and Florida, in which Leslie Paige is interviewed.
Check your local listings [...]

Filed under: Media Hits, Medicare/aid, Waste | 1 Comment »

Sen. DeMint (a CCAGW Taxpayer Hero) targets a city’s earmarks for its hostility toward the Marines:
U.S. Senator Wants to Revoke Funding From City of Berkeley, Calif., for Vote to Boot Marines
WASHINGTON —  U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., says the City of Berkeley, Calif., no longer deserves federal money.
DeMint was angered after learning that the Berkeley City [...]

Filed under: Defense, Earmarks, In The News, Pork, State Issues, Waste | No Comments »

Take a look at this submission by Public Citizen’s lobbyist Craig Holman which appeared in yesterday’s Roll Call ($): 
‘Bridges to Nowhere’ Are No More
Call them earmarks, if you must, but they ain’t the “pork” of yesteryear. Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D) and Norm Coleman (R) added a $195 million earmark to the omnibus appropriations bill to rebuild the collapsed [...]

Filed under: Appropriations, Budget, Defense, Earmarks, In The News, Media Hits, Pig Book, Pork, Reform, Waste | No Comments »

Read this article on the recommendations released today by the The National Surface Transportation and Revenue Study Commission on how to address and pay for our future transportation needs. 
We knew this was coming.  It won’t take long before this report, which was weighted heavily with commissioners who were pre-disposed in favor of massive gas tax increases to fund [...]

Filed under: Appropriations, Budget, Earmarks, In The News, Pork, Waste | No Comments »

CAGW VP for Policy David Williams appeared on Fox Business Network on Friday evening to denounce the congressional pay raise. Here is a link to the video: part 1 and part 2.

Filed under: Budget, In The News, Media Hits, Video, Waste | No Comments »

This story in the Hill is stuffed with fantastic comments and quotes about the possibility that President Bush might take an ax to earmarks by using an executive order.  Here are a couple of whoppers:
A spokesman for Senate Appropriations Chairman Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) accused the Bush administration of hypocrisy for considering an executive order telling federal [...]

Filed under: Appropriations, Budget, Earmarks, In The News, Pork, Reform, Waste | No Comments »