Sen. John McCain's Top 10 Earmark Tweets

John McCain tweets against costly earmarks, hitting pig waste, maple syrup, and lobbyist receptions

By U.S. News Staff

November 24, 2009 RSS Feed Print

Comment (7)
Tweet

By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers

Top 10 lists are the rage, and now Sen. John McCain, the loudest whistle-blower on federal waste, has come out with his own Top 10 list of costly earmarks—and put it out via Twitter. Actually, he's produced five Top 10 lists, one each from the spending conference reports for homeland security, agriculture, energy and water, interior and commerce, and justice and science.

A famous tweet fan, just like his daughter Meghan, McCain has singled out congressional earmarks that are lavish, potentially wasteful, and sometimes hilarious. And the Arizona Republican has even added some commentary. For example, citing an $825,000 fund to help New Hampshire fishermen "due to the economic impacts of new and existing regulations," he tweets: "Just repeal the regs!"

Sen. John McCain's Top 10 Earmark Tweets

November 6, 2009

Top 10 DHS Conference Report Earmarks:

$325,000 to study seismic activity in Memphis, TN

$125,000 to replace a generator in La Grange Park, IL

$130,000 to relocate the residents of 130 homes in DeKalb, IL

$200,000 to retrofit a college radio station in Athens, OH

$4 million for the Fort Madison Bridge in Fort Madison, WI

$3.6 million for Coast Guard Operations Systems Center in West Virginia

$900,000 for the City of Whitefish Emergency Operations Center in Whitefish, MT (Population: 6700)

$300,000 to build a pier at the Coast Guard Academy in CT

$800,000 for a portable battery recharging system in Tucson, AZ

$250,000 to retrofit a senior center in Brigham City, UT

Top 10 Agricultural conference report earmarks:

$165,000 for maple syrup research in Vermont.

$5 million for a research station in Hawaii to study agriculture practices in the Pacific (Most expensive earmark in this bill)

$195,000 to research how to increase the lifespan of peach trees in South Carolina.

$349,000 for pig waste management in North Carolina.

$500,000 to the National Wild Turkey Federation in Nebraska

$1.3 million for greenhouse nurseries in Ohio

$75,000 to promote "childhood farm safety" in Iowa.

$300,000 to develop "Best Practices in Agriculture Waste Management" in California.

$2 million for a fruit laboratory in West Virginia.

$819,000 for catfish genome research in Alabama.

Top 10 Energy and Water conference report earmarks:

$6 million for the Hawaii Renewable Energy Development Venture

$2.25 million for the Montana Bio-Energy Center of Excellence in Montana

$1.2 million for the Alternative Energy School of the Future in Nevada

$2 million for the Algae Research in Washington

$10 million for the Sustainable Energy Research Center in Mississippi

$1.2 million for the Hydrogen Fuel Dispensing Station in West Virginia

$1 million for the Alaska Climate Center in Alaska

$1 million for the Performance Assessment Institute in Nevada

$750,000 for the Algae to Ethanol Research and Evaluation in New Jersey

$1 million for the New School Green Building in New York

Top 10 Interior Approps Conference Agreement Earmarks

$1.2 mil 4 rat eradication @ Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge (5 sq mile island occupied by a few scientists studying coral reef)

$200,000 for historic preservation of the Richardson-Olmsted Complex (former Insane Asylum) in Buffalo, NY - decommissioned in 1970s.

$2.5 million for a wastewater treatment plant in Moorefield, WV (population of 2,375) $1,000 subsidy of per person.

$1 mil for improvements to the Sewall-Belmont House in DC-Private museum by day, hotspot for fundraisers & lobbyist receptions by night

$500,000 to "Vermont Wood Products Collaborative," to promote the development & marketing of wood products

$500,000 for a tropical botanical garden in Hawaii.

$150,000 to renovate an Opera House in Connecticut.

$500,000 for a Native Hawaiian arts program in Hawaii.

$100,000 for the Tahoe Rim Trail in Nevada to build a 15-mile hiking trail from Reno, Nevada, to Mt. Rose Ski Resort near Lake Tahoe.

$750,000 for a Conservation Training Center in West Virginia.

Top 10 Commerce Justice Science Approps Conference Agreement Earmarks

$825,000 to "provide assistance to NH's fishermen due to economic impacts of new and existing regulations." Just repeal the regs!

$250,000 for "Turtle Observer Funding"

$1M to "Save the Bay" an "independent, not-for-profit organization" accord to website. How independent if taking $1M govt handout?

$500,000 for "textile research and development"

$1 million for "Groundfish Industry Emergency Economic Assistance" in Maine.

$1m for "Hawaii's Living Seascape Improvement" 2.3m Americans have rcvd foreclosure notices & have no $ 2 improve their living, unreal

$1m to Thunder Bay Museum in MI--recipient of 6 earmarks in last 5 yrs for $6M taxpayer $ spent on building schooner & shipwreck exhibits

$2.25M for University of Hawaii for "coral research"

$1.6M for NW Straits Marine Conservative Initiative "a citizen-driven enviro protection commission"

$300,000 for Texas A&M Univ for "Texas Height Modernization"

Check out our gallery of political cartoons.
Want your Whispers first? Check out U.S. News Weekly.

Tags:: Twitter,; John McCain,; earmarks

Reader Comments Read all comments (7)

Add Your Thoughts Comment Name State Email

Please enter the two words below into the text field underneath the image.

Your comment will be posted immediately, unless it is spam or contains profanity. For more information, please see our Comments FAQ.

Where can we find out how the 800 billion dollars of the stimulus was spent?
Please

philip young of CA 3:17PM February 24, 2010

particularly shelf vectors american pattern few solar

annamariea of AK 2:17AM December 13, 2009

Pointing out federal spending on "pork" is always a wonderful idea. It has been a wonderful idea for scores of years. However, it has so far solved nothing by my reckoning.
John McCain is just one of many senators and representatives with long careers in Washington, D.C. In his case, 1982 was the starting date, the first four of those in the House, the rest in the Senate. More than 25 years of some good intentions (earmarks and campaign finance the obvious ones) and a host of missed opportunities with BIG problems that continue to plague this country.
Yes, John McCain has not been alone in failing to solve the big problems. He's just one of many with careers in Washington long enough to have done some real good. Think of how long health care reform has been talked about before the system became so costly and dysfunctional that it only recently became identifiable as a BIG problem. Or immigration reform--a problem with a 20-year background now in crisis stage involving health care, education, crime, etc. Or guns rampant, a problem growing over the years and involving more and more deaths of innocents by shooting. Or the drugs fiasco that now has Mexico involved in policing drugs traffic headed north (us) and frequent bloody battles with guns supplied from the north (us). Or a tax system so complicated that we all have to have professional tax preparers just to avoid breaking the law in our ignorance. Or corporate control of our elected officials and the effective negating of the one-vote-one-person intent of public elections.
Whatever I've missed in the dizzying array of problems, you supply. Those long in elected office as senators and representatives are to blame. They have to be unless each of us is willing to be blamed for our role in helping elect them. I'm not willing to let John McCain off the hook, his pork lists and failed effort (with Feingold) at campaign finance reform notwithstanding. There have been so many missed opportunities, so many chances to clear the books of BIG problems that I think it time to get to work on what needs reforming right away: the political culture in Washington, D. C.
John McCain and the rest of the long-tenured crowd in that culture have let us down. Period.

Ron W. Smith of UT 4:19PM November 25, 2009

Sen. John McCain's Top 10 Earmark Tweets

John McCain tweets against costly earmarks, hitting pig waste, maple syrup, and lobbyist receptions

More News

Reader Comments Read all comments (7)

Twitter and Facebook

Whispers on the Web

Latest Video

Bobbles Poll: Who's Fault For Congressional Gridlock?

House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have been fighting for a year on virtually every big congressional initiative and 2012 should be a repeat. Which leader is to blame for the gridlock in Washington?

Photos »

The White House »

Political Cartoons »

2012 Election »

Congress »