Pig Book Exposes Record Level Pork
The newly published 2003 Congressional Pig Book, put out annually by Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), documents a record-level $22.5 billion in pork-barrel spending-a 12% increase from last year's record of $20.1 billion.
CAGW says this year's pork expenditures are "hidden in the 13 appropriations bills, 11 of which were lumped together into one omnibus spending bill and passed in February . . . . the number of projects is also up since last year, from 8,341 to 9,362. The number of pork projects has increased 337% over five years."
Since 1991, CAGW has tracked congressional pork-barrel projects that are attached to or hidden in appropriations bills. The top three areas with increases in pork from fiscal 2002 to fiscal 2003 were: "District of Columbia from $10 million to $87 million (769%); Legislative branch from $34 million to $71 million (108%); and military construction from $881 million to $1.2 billion (33%)."
Despite a $300-billion budget deficit when Congress passed the 2003 Omnibus Appropriations Bill last February, members of Congress loaded the bill with thousands of pork-barrel projects-from the National Peanut Festival in Alabama to the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Texas.
The Pig Book raises the question: "Should Congress spend $1 million for oyster recovery in South Carolina, or marsh restoration in New Hampshire, or the Bering Sea Crab in Alaska, or brown tree snakes in Hawaii? Or should that same $1 million be used to buy one Tomahawk cruise missile to begin replacing the thousands that [have been] used in Iraq?"
Here are just some of the pork projects that taxpayers actually foot the bill for:
- $33 million for the National Animal Disease Center in Ames, Iowa
- $210,000 for hoop barns in Iowa
- $500,000 for catfish health in Stoneville, Miss.
- $350,000 for sweet potato research in Stoneville, Miss.
- $1.2 million for seafood harvesting in Alaska
- $700,000 for "rural development" in Alaska
- $200,000 for seafood waste in Fairbanks, Alaska
- $4.2 million for shrimp aquaculture research
- $6.17 million for wood utilization research (since 1985, taxpayers have forked over $73 million for this project)
- $500,000 for swine lagoon alternatives research in Florence, S.C.
- $1 million for oyster recovery
- $1 million for the Bering Sea crab in Alaska
- $1 million for marsh restoration in New Hampshire
- $7.8 million for Hawaiian sea turtles
- $2.7 million for UN programs, including $1 million for the UN Development Fund for Women
- $1 million for DNA study of bears in Montana
The Pig Book lists pork per capita by state-Alaska, Hawaii, and the District of Columbia place 1st, 2nd and 3rd consecutively-and contains "Pig Book Oinkers of 2003" for the most outrageous pursuit of pork.
For more information contact Mark Carpenter or Jonathan Trager of CAGW at (202) 467-5300. The Pig Book summary is available at the Citizens Against Government Waste web site: www.cagw.org.
CPAC 2004 Official Dates
The American Conservative Union Foundation recently announced the official dates for the 2004 Conservative Political Action Conference, the nation's premier annual gathering of conservative activists and organizations This will be the 31st CPAC and CPAC 2004will be held Thursday, January 22-toSaturday, January 24, once again at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Va.
CPAC 2004 will feature book signings and the nation's hottest conservative authors and commentators in workshops and forums.
"The 31st Annual CPAC will be a blockbuster," said David Keene, Chairman of the ACU Foundation. "ACU Foundation, HUMAN EVENTS, and Young America's Foundation will again be co-sponsoHUMAN EVENTS, in conjunction with more than 70 co-sponsoring organizations, Keene promised that that groups will put together a schedule featuring the best speakers on various issues of importance to the conservative movement."
New features for attendees of the CPAC 2004 include a silent auction during the receptions for both the Presidential and Ronald Reagan Banquets. At which CPAC will auction more than a dozen special trips, outings, and luncheons with leaders of the conservative movement.
Earlier this year the 30th annual CPAC broke records by overfilling the capacity of the hotel with more than 4,000 attendees from around the world. Registration for CPAC 2004 will be limited to 3,800.
For the latest updates and information on CPAC 2004 and to register online visit: www.cpac.org or call the toll free hotline: 1-(800) 752-4391.
American Cause Conference Tackles Nation's Founding
The next American Cause Conference will be held May 15-17, 2003, in Boston, Mass., at the new Hilton Boston Logan Airport, a state-of-the-art facility ratedby AAA as a 4-diamond hotel.
Conference attendees will hear: American Cause founder Pat Buchanan, HUMAN EVENTS' Editor Terry Jeffrey, H. W. Brands, author of The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin, Pauline Maier, author of American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence and professor of American History at MIT, and Peter Drummey of the Massachusetts Historical Society and other leading conservative scholars for what the sponsors say will be a weekend of unforgettable scholarship, tours, debate and fun in Boston.
Tours include Boston's Freedom Trail, Bunker Hill, Lexington, and Concord. There will also be a showing of The Patriot starring Mel Gibson.
Reserve your conference tickets ($325 each) and overnight accommodations by calling Tim Haley at (703) 237-2034. Tickets cover bus transportation, tours, admission to lectures and panel discussions, and the following meals: Full breakfast on Friday and Saturday, lunch and dinner on Saturday, and a reception Saturday evening.
For additional information visit their web site: www.theamericancause.org.
Book Examines Political Influence of Regulators
The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group has released a new book that scrutinizes the political clout of bureaucratic regulators and how the regulatory system affects the life of every American.
The Regulators: Anonymous Power Brokers in American Politics by Cindy Skrzycki, a business columnist for the Washington Post, is an incisive and entertaining look at the back corridors of government.
One example that Skrzycki highlights to illustrate the long reach of political influence that regulators wield is the midnight regulations that the departing Clinton Administration inserted into the Federal Register on their last day in office-a "whopping 944 pages in two volumes . . . that didn't see the light of day until the following Monday" when the Register was printed under the first day of the Bush Administration.
For more information about The Regulators visit the Rowman & Littlefield website: www.rowmanlittlefield.com or www.amazon.com.
