Keep Up the Good Work

According to the Office of Management and Budget, Congress approved 11,524 earmarks for the 2008 fiscal year, totaling $16,501,833,000. I will state it again: 11,524 earmarks worth $16,501,833,000! Of course, not all earmarks should be viewed as wasteful spending. However, let's put that eye popping figure in just one perspective: With $16,501,833,000, you could pay the first year's tuition at a four-year academic institution for 742,724 individuals. At the same time, with that $16.5+ billion, you would only be able to fund 48 days of the Iraq War (which is probably an extremely conservative estimate at that). If you aren't depressed by now, the following is a list of the worst earmarks in 2008:

10. The $700 billion economic bailout in October was reluctantly viewed as a necessary evil by numerous politicians (Democrats and Republicans alike). At the same time, an additional provision (http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_bills&docid=f:h1424enr.txt.pdf) introduced by Rep. Melissa Bean (D-IL) and Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) was also an evil but certainly not necessary. Decreasing tariffs for U.S. manufacturers of wool fabrics which use imported yarn, the measure will reduce the tax liability for these companies by $148 million over five years.

9. Another product (http://banking.senate.gov/public/_files/latestversionAYO08C32_xml.pdf)
of this year’s financial bailout will renew an expired rebate against excise taxes imposed on rum imported from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands until the end of 2009. The $192 million in tax cuts will primarily assist those two territories in developing their economies and, in theory, reducing the need for future financial support.

8. Although Montana’s total amount of foreign exports is less than one third of a much smaller Delaware, Rep. Dennis Rehberg (R-MT) obtained $583,000 (http://earmarks.omb.gov/2008-earmarks/earmark_342974.html) for the Montana World Trade Center. Headquartered in Missoula (a city with a population of 64,000 residents), the center clearly has impressive ambitions: the web site can be read in five languages and the logo includes a stack of hundred dollar bills in front of a globe.

7. Congress spent more than $200 per resident of the tiny southern town of Boydton, VA in order to develop a historic walking tour. The $98,000 earmark (http://earmarks.omb.gov/2008-earmarks/earmark_289167.html) for a town less than one square mile in size is designated for the tour of, among other things, a 1790s tavern, a Greek Revival courthouse and a one-mile long oval race track. The appropriations were secured in a Department of Housing and Urban Development bill by Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA). Goode is the same individual who declared last year that "Federal budget spending is too much overall and Congress members should set an example by not spending too much".

6. Despite the fact that Maine's lobster industry generated approximately $300 million in 2006, Rep. Thomas Allen (D-ME), Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) were able to obtain $188,000 (http://earmarks.omb.gov/2008-earmarks/earmark_326992.html) from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to launch the Lobster Health Coalition at the University of Maine’s Lobster institute. By the way, the institute’s other accomplishments include developing a live Internet "Lobster Cam" and creating lobster treats for dogs called Bisque-its.

5. Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR) and Sen. Ronald Wyden (D-OR) championed another earmark on the financial bailout bill. In this earmark (http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_bills&docid=f:s3055is.txt.pdf), manufacturers (including the Oregon based Rose City Archery) of wooden arrows designed for children will receive an exemption from an excise tax and, in turn, save those companies up to $2 million over the next ten years.

4. As the individual behind the proposed “Bridge to Nowhere”, it should not be any surprise that Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) is included on this list. This year the "King of the Earmarks" requested more than $2.5 million (http://earmarks.omb.gov/2008-earmarks/earmark_352923.html) for the building of an airport on the remote Akutan Island. The airport would be used primarily by a large seafood company which has donated money to Stevens's election campaigns and political action committee funds.

3. Among the unexpected beneficiaries of the recent financial bailout are two tuna canneries in American Samoa. Tax credits, which had expired at the end of last year, were re-instated and backdated (http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_bills&docid=f:h1424enr.txt.pdf), thereby reducing the canneries’ tax liability by $33 million over two years. I should point out that, even though the U.S. based Del Monte Corp. recently sold their StarKist tuna cannery in American Samoa to the South Korean company, Dong Won, the cannery will still qualify for the tax exemption because the operation is based in the U.S. territory.

2. In the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2008, Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY) secured two earmarks (http://earmarks.omb.gov/2008-earmarks/earmark_340582.html) totaling $3.6 million for Phoenix Products, Inc. Based in McKee, KY, Phoenix Products is a small company which manufactures aircraft accessories, including custom interiors. Rogers’ most recent earmarks for the company are allocated for the delivery of five hundred leak proof transmission drip pans for Black Hawks used by the United States Army and National Guard. However, Army officials have stated that they have yet to decide if the drip pans should even be purchased from Phoenix Products in the first place.

1. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) secured more than $1.9 million in special funding (http://earmarks.omb.gov/2008-earmarks/earmark_352821.html) for a planned $30 million academic center at the City College of New York. Not surprisingly, the new facility will be called the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service. When Rep. John Campbell (R-CA) objected to the situation, Rangel arrogantly responded: "I would have a problem if you did it because I don't think that you've been around long enough that having your name on something to inspire a building like this in a school. It might be that it would be in order for you to get publicity and to get re-elected. But since I've been here thirty-eight years and have not really had any opposition from the other side, it doesn't serve any function for me." It is important to note that, in September of this year, the House Ethics Committee announced an investigation into Rangel allegedly (1) using his congressional stationary to solicit donors for the center, (2) failing to report and pay taxes on $75,000 in rental income from his villa in the Dominican Republic and (3) living amongst four rent subsidized apartments in Harlem while still claiming his house in Washington, D.C. as his primary residence for tax purposes.