Newsroom - For Immediate Release
November 20, 2004 Contact: Keith Ashdown
202.546.8500 x110
OMNIBUS SPENDING BILL BREAKS THE BANK
Our analysis of the Omnibus spending bill found that the bill contains 11,772
earmarks at a cost of $15,780,533,623. If you have any questions, please feel
free to call me at 202-546-8500 x 110. Here is a brief statement from Keith
Ashdown, Vice President of Programs at Taxpayers for Common Sense:
"Here they go again. With the fat lady singing on the 108th Congress, lawmakers
have just passed a massive spending bill that virtually no one has read, and
no one knows much about. Despite this, hardly anyone seems to care. We heard
a lot about how this bill is fiscally responsible. However, the facts speak
for themselves. This bill is the fattest legislative hog that we have ever seen
and despite record deficits, lawmakers are much more concerned with feathering
the nests of their favorite parochial interests. If this bill is an indicator
of what's to come, we will be swimming up a river of red ink for quite some
time."
Below are 20 of the most egregious earmarks in the bill:
1. $25,000: Curriculum development for the study of mariachi music, Clark County
School Distinct, NV, Labor-HHS.
2. $25,000: Banana Factory for an arts and technology after school program,
Bethlehem, PA, Labor-HHS.
3. $45,000: A+ for Abstinence for abstinence education and related services,
Waynesboro, PA, Labor-HHS.
4. $300,000: CyberSeniors, Inc. - Experience Senior Power Program, Detroit,
MI, Labor-HHS.
5. $225,000: National Wild Turkey Federation, SC, Agriculture.
6. $250,000: Country Music Hall of Fame, Nashville, TN, VA/HUD.
7. $1,000,000: Missouri Pork Producers Federation: converting animal waste into
energy, MO, VA/ HUD.
8. $75,000: Renovations of the Merry Go Round Playhouse, Auburn, NY, VA/HUD.
9. $100,000: Punxsutawney Weather Museum, Punxsutawney, PA, VA/HUD.
10. $306,000: Restroom repair at Porter Beach at Indian Dunes NL, IN, Interior.
11. $4,989,000: Stabilize bathhouses for adaptive reuse, Hot Springs, AR, Interior.
12. $800,000: Soybean Rust Research, Ames, IA, Interior.
13. $1,400,000: Laser lines of tug roads and lake Hood Seaplane base, Ted Stevens
International Airport, AK, Transportation.
14. $1,593: Potato Storage, Madison, WI, Agriculture.
15. $250,000: Asparagus Technology and Production, WA, Agriculture.
16. $50,000: Feral Hogs, MO, Agriculture.
17. $150,000: Coca-Cola Space Science Center, Columbs, GA, VA/HUD
18. $150,000: Beaver management and damage. WI, Agriculture
19. $250,000: Sidewalks, street furniture, and facade improvements. Boca Raton,
FL, VA/HUD
20. $200,000: American Cotton Museum. Greenville, TX, VA/HUD.
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Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) is a non-partisan budget watchdog. TCS is
dedicated to cutting wasteful spending and subsidies in order to achieve a responsible
and efficient government that lives within its means.
651 Pennsylvania Ave, SE | Washington, DC 20003 | 1-800-taxpayer | fax: 202-546-8511
ATG: Folks, this is YOUR money - from your hard earned efforts- forcefully
removed by the Federal Government and GIVEN UNCONSTITUTIONALLY to pet
projects which are or should be self supporting. Most of them are and the rest
of just a bunch of hogwash activities requested of certain Congress people wanting
to stay in power.....by taking your money to pay for support/control. Tucked
into this thing is the mandatory screening of ALL children for mental disorders:
[See Livid Leigh for that story.] When was the last time you heard your 'candate'
state he/she would cut spending?
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