Pork - The Preliminary Verdict Is In!

On our main website, www.loathemygovernment.com, we have a page of recent government expenditures that may or may not have a significant impact on the average American's life. It was my opinion that these government expenditures were a total waste of taxpayer dollars but I included them on the website and the ability to vote on their importance and relevance by site visitors. Some of these expenditures included the following:

- $250,000 for research to cut asparagus industry labor costs.
- $200,000 to Ocean Spray to market white cranberry juice in Great Britain.
- $2,000,000 to construct a parking facility at the University of Incarnate World, a Catholic institution in San Antonio despite adequate existing parking facilities.
- $70,000 for a Paper Industry Hall of Fame in Wisconsin.
- $26,000,000 to operate the selective Service even though there has not been any military draft since 1973.
- $519,000,000 in farm subsidies in the 1995 - 2003 period, to Riceland Foods in Arkansas. Riceland receives more Federal money in a typical year than all the farmers in 12 other states combined.
- $300,000 for a feasibility study for the world’s first fully enclosed motor speedway in Ohio.
- $150,000 to the Grammy Foundation to support Grammy Camp where 60 students learn the music business.
- $775,000 to the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Florida - part of a project to provide economic opportunity in areas of low or moderate income. However, Coral Gables’ per capita income is almost 20 percent above the national average.
- $213,000 for olive fruit fly research in France.
- $1,900,000 for the Center For Grape Genetics in New York.
- $2,500,000 for fish waste research in Alaska.
- $1,200,000 for cormorant control in several states (cormorants are birds - this is one example where you honestly say your taxpayer money is “for the birds”, “flying the coop”, etc.).

The complete list is on the website but these examples were from Parade magazine article over the past few years and are a good representative sample. As of today, of all the visitors to the site that have voted on whether these types of expenditures were a good use of their tax dollars, 100% of the visitors voted against 100% of all of the examples. I guess they figure there are better uses for their dollars than funding fish waste research or controlling the cormorant. I do not know whether they want their taxes back or think spending these dollars on the drug addiction problem, failing public schools problem, health care costs problem or several other MAJOR problems are more important. The website does not ask these questions but it is pretty clear the voters are not happy with what is being funded today.

However, the vote is nonbinding and this type of pork will continue until somewhere has the guts to stand up to the political class and their desire to waste our money on making themselves look good. Step 44 in the book. "Love My Country, Loathe My Government" would shut down this waste once and for all: "Prohibit the use of Federal programs or tax dollars for any project unless it materially benefits a high percentage of residents of at least five states." Need to research fish waste in Alaska? Then let the Alaskans pay for it. Need an enclosed motor speedway in Ohio, let the Ohioans pay for the study. I would bet that many of these projects would never occur if the individual states had to fund their own state specific projects. It is always easier to spend other people's money even if the project is stupid.