Washington Goes on a Spending Spree
An extra $100 billion in pork and programs
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Spending spree
Senators from both sides of the aisle have been treating themselves to hundreds of spending programs of peculiar, and perhaps dubious, value. Examples:
Harry Reid (D-Nevada) has secured more than $14 million for five projects in Nevada, including $2 million to enable airline passengers to get boarding passes at their hotels.
Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) added more than $7 million to next year's agriculture bill to fund "integrated cow resources management and agriculture-based industrial lubricants research."
Robert Byrd (D-West Virginia) has earmarked $5.25 million for a new dorm at the National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, a facility run by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), the appropriator in chief, scored $400,000 for a parking lot in Talkeetna - a slice of the $43 million in special projects he pulled out of the transportation bill.
Pete Domenici (R-New Mexico), a nominal budget hawk, claims that the $200,000 he got for a railroad museum in Las Cruces "could improve transportation for the entire nation."
Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) opposed federal involvement in peanut allergy research in 1998, but he has secured $500,000 for the same in fiscal year 2001.
Source: Citizens Against Government Waste
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