Pork in the name of National defense
It’s going to be a great Christmas for donors to Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Mississippi, the ranking Republican on the Defense Appropriation Committee. His earmarks included in the $636 billion 2009 Defense Appropriations Bill includes giveaways totaling $132 million for his campaign contributors. The University of Southern Mississippi donated $10,000. Return on investment: $10.8 million. Raytheon Corp. officials contributed $10,000. Return on investment: $6 million. According to the nonprofit group, Taxpayers for Common Sense, Cochran leads the Senate for number of earmarks this year with a total of $212 million .
In second place is Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawaii, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. His $208 million in earmarks this year were directed almost exclusively to companies and organizations who donated over $340,000 to his campaign.
The defense spending bill includes billions for projects not requested by the Pentagon. A new $1.7 billion Navy destroyer they did not ask for and $2.5 billion for new C-130 aircraft the Air Force says they do not need.
Sen. Harry Reid, D-NV, earmarked over $42 million this year for his largest three donors. In total these three donors have given Reid and the DNC over $400,000. Not a bad return on their investment.
As Nevadans and Americans struggle to make ends meet, our Congress is busy paying back campaign contributions in the form of billions in government handouts to the people and companies that keep them in power. It is time for us to pool our resources together to support candidates who will put Americans above special interests.
We could also just follow Harry Reid’s advise to people who don’t like pork barrel spending; “Get a life”! I guess he forgets that most American families are trying to maintain a life while he is handing out our tax dollars to his friends.
Congressional Spending, Responsible Government, responsible taxation
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