The Pork Report
Pork Report, February 1: Wine and Dine Edition
by The Pork ReportSenators vote against eliminating government waste and duplication, including reducing Congress’ budget for itself, while proclaiming “the United States is prepared to stand up and deal with this debt threat”
Taxpayers billed $1,000 per week for booze and other “in-flight services” for the Speaker of the House that “read like a dream order for a wild frat party”
Hundreds of convicted criminals may have been hired by the U.S. Census Bureau
California wine trail will be getting signs, a new map and an iPhone application thanks to a $98,500 federal stimulus grant given to the Monterey County Growers and Vintners Association
Federal stimulus funds supporting Napa Valley Wine Train, despite local opposition
The federal government “likely overspent by millions” when it negotiated a no bid contract for the $54 million Wine Train stimulus project
The pork bell curve: Boston College has more than doubled what it spends on lobbying and, according to the college’s spokesman, “our earmarks have increased since we started paying [the lobbyists] more.”
The Wine Institute receives $7 million grant to promote wine in foreign countries; Raisin Administrative Committee receives $3 million and the California Walnut Commission pulls in $4.5 million
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The Pork Report, January 26, 2009: Atlantic City Edition
by The Pork ReportFederal budget deficit will reach $1.35 trillion in 2010, and Congress is already planning to borrow billions more to pay for a new jobs bill and another war funding bill
Most TSA employees to receive performance-based pay hikes
Taxpayers spent more than $1.1 million to send members of Congress and their staff on junkets to the Copenhagen Climate Summit in Denmark
More than half of the companies that have received federal stimulus dollars to do highway work in Massachusetts have a history of breaking the law
Monterey wine association receives $98,5000 federal stimulus grant
$2 million of federal stimulus money paying to teach Ohio residents how to cut, color and style hair
Atlantic City spends federal stimulus money to pay for more than $276,000 worth of playground equipment
Nearly three out of four Americans think that at least half of the money spent in the federal stimulus plan has been wasted, according to a new CNN poll
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Pork Report, January 25, 2009: Viking Edition
by The Pork ReportMinnesota Vikings’ headed to the stimulus Superbowl! Team officials looking at millions of dollars of federal stimulus funds to build “taxpayer field”
With Palin gone, Bridge to Nowhere may still go somewhere
Jobs agency spent $133,714 of taxpayer funds on exorbitant meals for staff, including iced tea priced at $13 a gallon, cheesecake costing $9 a slice, and a dozen gourmet cupcakes costing $50
Colorado will keep posting roadside signs touting projects funded by federal stimulus and featuring the governor’s name; The state has spent $247,000 of stimulus money posting those signs at about 100 sites in the past year
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Pork Report, January 22, 2009: Bureaucrats Gone Wild Edition
by The Pork ReportBureaucrats gone wild! Taxpayers charged for international trysts, golf, skiing, and other government junkets
Military officials bought thousands of dollars worth of alcohol, food and other amenities for congressional overseas junkets
Delaware airport that “hardly ever sees a paying passenger” has received $12.3 million from the federal Airport Improvement Program for a runway construction project
Tennessee library pays for Rock Band video game session and Monday Night Football with a $5,000 federal Community Building Through Video Games in Libraries grant
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Pork Report, January 12 2009
by The Pork ReportFederal stimulus plan’s spending on roads and bridges has had no effect on unemployment, research finds; “Spend a lot or spend nothing at all, it didn’t matter,” the analysis showed as “local unemployment rates rose and fell regardless of how much stimulus money Washington poured out for transportation”
· “It beats being at work!” Federal Aviation Administration spent $5 million to send 3, 600 managers to a conference in Atlanta that some say was little more than an excuse to throw a three-week-long party
· Congress spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to send politicians and staff on a junket to the global warming summit that failed to reach a climate agreement
· “Stealth” company whose address appears to be an empty office to receive $9.2 million federal grant
· The Postal Service’s top marketing executive directed more than $1.3 million in sole-source contracts to former business associates; As a result, some postal employees are sitting idle because the consultants are doing what previously were their jobs
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Pork Report, December 11, 2009: Puppet Show Edition
by The Pork ReportNearly one in five federal employees paid $100,000 a year or more, and that doesn’t count overtime pay or bonuses
Congress to increase the federal debt ceiling by $1.8 trillion before year’s end
Minneapolis puppet show receives federal stimulus dollars
Columbus City Schools have more than 120 buildings, but the district is renting banquet halls, high-end hotels and conference centers with $145,000 in federal grant dollars intended help low-income students
Washington, DC receiving nearly 10 times as much federal stimulus funds per capita as the rest of the nation
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Pork Report, December 10, 2009: Muskrat Love Edition
by The Pork ReportMartini bar, puppet shows, and research on the sex drive of rats among the recipients of federal stimulus funding
All aboard the stimulus gravy train! $54 million of stimulus funds for a California “wine train” and $2.2 million for a golf course being threatened with closure
Congressional Republicans trumpeting their efforts to rein in federal spending have tucked thousands of pet projects costing more than $1 billion in the $446.8 billion omnibus appropriations bill expected to be passed this week
$500,000 National Science Foundation grant studies how people use Facebook
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Pork Report, December 8, 2009: Downhill Edition
by The Pork ReportAlaska’s $680 million bridge to nowhere still a state priority
17,000 Medicaid patients put on waiting lists for medical services in Maryland as the state misspends $98 million including paying for services for dead people
Medicare loses $60 billion to fraud every year
Democrat political consultants receive millions of dollars in federal stimulus funds; Millions more spent to heat a near-empty shopping mall, to search for fossils in Argentina, for socially conscious puppet shows, and to study the genetic makeup of ants
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Pork Report December 1, 2009: Dollars For Donuts Edition
by The Pork ReportThe Senate earmarks $500,000 for itself; Money will be spent to promote Senators’ appearances
House of Representative’s expense reports now online
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spent $2,993 in taxpayer money on flowers in just a few months and House Majority Whip James Clyburn spent hundreds of dollars on donuts
Congress steers millions of taxpayer dollars to campaign donors’ pet projects including an earmark for “mammal awareness”
The Justice Department has instructed federal agencies to honor contracts with ACORN despite ban on funding passed by Congress and signed by the President
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Pork Report November 30, 2009: Stimulus Snafus Edition
by The Pork ReportTens of thousands of TSA screeners to receive government bonuses, including millions of dollars paid to more than 10,000 who have been rated poorly
Government bailout watch: Despite receiving $5.5 billion in stimulus funds, Government Services Administration’s backlog of deferred maintenance projects now totals $8.8 billion and the agency is proposing billions of dollars in new projects
As stimulus money doubles Wisconsin’s weatherization budget, a review finds weatherization work done on hundreds of low-income homes failed to meet federal standards; Inspectors found projects done in a way that could threaten the safety of residents or did not save enough energy
Stimulus funds pay to replace “unattractive” streetlights; The new lights “aren’t especially energy-efficient, and the old ones work”
Federal Reserve tries theater ads to improve its image
Las Vegas’ $4.1 million housing plan built on federal stimulus money stalled over squabbles about how to hand out the money and to whom
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Pork Report November 20, 2009: B-I-N-G-O Edition
by The Pork ReportU.S. Department of Justice funds spent on “Bingo Nights” in Ohio
Who wants $1.5 million in stimulus funds? Apparently, no one.
$25,000 stimulus grant will provide a week of “free” concerts in Sacramento
Less than one percent of Columbus commuters ride bikes, but more than a half-a-million dollars of federal stimulus funds to add downtown bike facilities
Hollywood’s Elegance International makeup school getting a $80,000 stimulus grant and Wild Boar Media, which “writes and dreams up new animation, stories, comics and toys” receives $50,000 in stimulus assistance
Congress long ago earmarked $87 million for a commuter rail line in Georgia, but the state has spent little of the money
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Pork Report November 19, 2009: Party Cruise Edition
by The Pork Report“Are caged chickens miserable?,” asks three-year study funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture
Party cruise ship receives $123,000 stimulus grant to protect it from terrorist attacks; “We feel that we’re really a low threat for a terrorist incident,” says owner, “but the stimulus was a nice perk.”
U.S. government made more than $98 billion in erroneous payments this year alone
Federal grant intended to prevent tobacco use spent on junkets, tribal elections, and publishing a newspaper
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Pork Report November 17, 2009: Post Office Edition
by The Pork ReportThe U.S. Postal Service lost $3.8 billion last year
Winery receives federal stimulus grant
Musicians more effective communicating in noisy environments than non-musicians, according to findings of a National Science Foundation study
Only 20 percent of Americans hold positive view of government
Research company receives millions of dollars of congressional earmarks and has nothing to show for it
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Pork Report November 13th: End of the World Edition
by The Pork ReportWhy ask why? National Science Foundation and National Institute of Child Health and Human Development study why children ask so many “why” question
Harvest time: The Washington Apple Commission receives federal funds to educate retailers in China, Russia and other countries how to handle apples and other perishable products
NASA wants you to know that the world won’t end in 2012; U.S. space agency launches Web resource to counter fictional new movie
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Pork Report November 3rd: Merry-Go-Round Edition
by The Pork ReportMerry-Go-Round Museum receives federal funds
Federal funds pay to put on a ghostly journey to the most haunted places in Illinois
The shopping mall to nowhere; $5 million stimulus grant to heat an “almost-empty mall”
Stimulus grant pays to keep tabs on how often doctors and nurses wash their hands at hospitals in Maryland
Agency that misspent public funds on a casino junket and $700 worth of coffee and lost a child on a field trip slated to receive $159,000 in stimulus funds
Stimulus saves or creates jobs for illegal aliens; Company that the federal government knew was intentionally hiring hundreds of illegal immigrants awarded $6.7 million in federal contracts—including nearly $1million in stimulus money—during the past year
Many of the jobs counted as being “saved” by the federal stimulus program “definitely wouldn’t have been lost in the first place, and others might not have been lost at all”
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Pork Report October 30, 2009: A Caboose To Nowhere Edition
by The Pork ReportCalifornia sculpture competition paid for with a Federal Transportation Enhancement Activity grant
A top FEMA official admitted there is no way to assess the effectiveness of homeland security improvements made from the $29 billion spent since 2002
Homeland Security funds spent on a equipment that was never used and probably will be never needed
$1.5 million federal grant will pay to renovate a train station which hasn’t been used in three decades and may never be used again
A $78,280 federal Transportation Enhancement Grant paying to relocate and renovate a caboose not used in decades
Department of Commerce pays to send Ohio Chamber of Commerce members on a two week junket to China
$500,000 in federal funds expected to pay for a party to celebrate St. Augustine’s 450th birthday
The National Park Service will spend more than $300,000 to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Blue Ridge Parkway
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Pork Report October 29,2009: National Science Foundation Edition
by The Pork ReportNational Science Foundation studies gossip and workplace politics in elementary school
$1.47 million grant from the National Science Foundation will fund a 3-D virtual recreation of the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair
National Science Foundation funds self-help for Members of Congress
$1.57 million stimulus grant to search for fossils… in Argentina
Thirty companies ranked among the most egregious offenders of state and federal laws awarded more than $1.2 billion in federal stimulus contracts
Taxpayers paid $24,000 per car under federal Cash for Clunkers program
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Pork Report October 28, 2009: Taxpayer Subsidies All Around Edition
by The Pork ReportThere are millions of tweets every day, and the government is paying scientists $678,000 to read them and measure the happiness of the written expressions
National Science Foundation discovers the cure for politicians’ dismal approval ratings; Taxpayer funded researchers to brief Congress on how to increase constituent trust and approval ratings this Friday
The right to free speech now includes government subsidized cell phones; Phone companies receive up to $10 a month in government subsidies to cover what amounts to about $3 in service per beneficiary
“Cell phone ownership is a right,” says company that provides taxpayer subsidized phones
Taxpayers subsidize about $32 of the cost of a train ticket for every Amtrak passenger
Despites the massive $787 billion in federal stimulus spending, the national unemployment rate rises to nearly 9.8 percent and the nation marks the 21st month of net job losses, longer than at any time since the Great Depression…
The White House says stimulus spending has already had its biggest impact and probably won’t contribute to significant growth next year
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Pork Report October 27, 2009: Paying Dead People Edition
by The Pork ReportMedicaid paid for prescriptions written for 1,800 dead patients and 1,200 prescriptions “written” by dead physicians
Medicare paid up to $92 million for medical services ordered by dead doctors, some of whom had been dead for more than 10 years
Social Security Administration sent out $250 stimulus checks to 10,000 people who are deceased, some of which have been dead for several decades
U.S. Department of Agriculture distributed $1.1 billion in federal farm aid to the estates or companies of deceased farmers
San Francisco receives federal funding for AIDS patients who died decades ago
Dallas Housing Authority spent federal funds to subsidize housing for 45 deceased clients
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Pork Report October 26, 2009: Decorative Street Lights Edition
by The Pork ReportNew Jersey spending federal stimulus funds to keep an eye out for graffiti
National Science Foundation researchers study the cure for low approval ratings of members of Congress
“The groundbreaking study … found that online deliberative forums are likely to sway swing voters in favor of the lawmaker holding the online forum,” says taxpayer funded study
Taxpayer funded study claims online town hall meetings increase constituents’ approval of politicians and likelihood of voting to re-elect a politician to Congress
Department of Energy will spend $151 million for “radical” research projects, “most of which will probably fail”
Congressman supported at least $44 million in earmarks for companies that did not operate in his home state, nearly all of which donated to his campaign just before or soon after receiving the promise of federal money
House subcommittee plans Honolulu junket to check on stimulus spending
Vinegar producer in Nebraska gets start up funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture
Boyz Nite Out: Cover band concert underwritten with federal stimulus funds
Indiana city spending $625,000 in federal transportation funds to place 40 decorative street lights
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Pork Report October 22, 2009: Vegas Neon Museum
by The Pork ReportLas Vegas Boulevard, littered with strip bars and casinos, named a National Scenic Byway, making it eligible for federal funds to promote the strip
Las Vegas’ Neon Museum receives $300,000 federal grant to restore two signs
National park superintendent who viewed thousands of sexually explicit images on a government computer during work hours will not be fired and has been reassigned to another job within the National Park Service
Washington Wine Commission receives federal funds to promote wine in Mexico and India
Federal funds to teach wine-makers about popular varieties of grapes
The $3.7 million Department of Education grant will pay to teach the Tlingit language, currently spoken by less than 200 people
$446,000 federal grant paid for a 10-day Tlingit language immersion retreat at Glacier Bay Lodge for a few more than 30 people
The Center for Wooden Boats receives federal stimulus funds to hire an assistant boatwright
Michigan Department of Human Services may have improperly spent $163.8 million of federal dollars intended to assist vulnerable children
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Pork Report October 20, 2009: Are Political Scientists Relevant?
by The Pork ReportToday’s edition identifies at least $333 million in wasteful Washington spending.
-$300 million stimulus program to promote energy efficiency may not be energy efficient after all, audit finds
-Quid Pro Pork: Department of Justice investigates link between the exchange of congressional earmarks and campaign donations
-Washington, DC, city government steered $4.5 million in federal funds to an AIDS housing group that never filed federal tax returns and has been plagued with service and cost complaints
-DC mayor launches investigation of groups that misspent more than $25 million of public AIDS assistance
-Political scientists debate the relevancy of the research they conduct with federal funds; “We’re kidding ourselves if we think this research typically has the obvious public benefit we claim for it.”
-National Science Foundation funds political science study of online town hall meetings held by Members of Congress (more…)
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The Pork Report: October 19, 2009
by The Pork ReportFree golf carts available from federal stimulus program
Annual U.S. federal budget deficit reaches an all time high of $1.42 trillion in 2009; Government spending jumped to more than $3.5 trillion, increasing over 18% in one year
The Pentagon pays an average of $400 to put a gallon of fuel into a combat vehicle or aircraft in Afghanistan
As AIDS patients die in the streets of our nation’s capital, millions of dollars in federal AIDS funds misspent by the city on nepotism, ghost employees, and executive travel and pay
No punishment for National Park Service employee, paid $145,000-a-year, who used his government computer to view thousands of sexually explicit images?
National Science Foundation pays to develop a reverse karaoke application for iPhone
As Florida’s jobless rate reaches 11 percent…
… More than $2.3 million in federal economic stimulus grants go to Florida cosmetology and massage schools to pay tuition for the hairdressers, masseuses and nail technicians of tomorrow
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The Pork Report: October 15, 2009
by The Pork Report$300,000 in federal stimulus money pays to map radioactive rabbit turds from a helicopter
$445 million worth of congressional earmarks compromise the priorities of the Energy Department
$2.6 billion diverted from guns and ammunition for troops to pay for politicians’ pet projects
Two men imprisoned for skimming money from a $8.2 million congressional earmark funded through the Defense Department
Go fish: $1 million of stimulus funds spent to catch fish in Utah
The Federal Highway Administration urging localities to impose tolls on motorists who drive during rush hour
The Federal Highway Administration tells Indiana it has too many billboards along the state’s roads
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The Pork Report: October 14, 2009
by The Pork ReportTaxpayers foot the bill for office items lost or stolen by members of Congress
Half-a-million dollar NSF stimulus grant pays to search for alternatives to Facebook
Stimulus funds pay to create an online database of bugs
Stimulus funds to pay for talking buses in Ohio; Human voices to replace beeping sounds that alert pedestrians of approaching buses
Congressmen successfully pressure the Food and Drug Administration to approve medical device manufactured by campaign contributor
Spending bills stalled by decision of Appropriations Committees to withhold government reports from the public and other members of Congress
Political ‘scientists’ lobby to keep millions of dollars in federal science grants
Congress will spend more than $100 million to put sand on beaches
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The Pork Report: October 13, 2009
by The Pork ReportTrendiness of baby names being studied by the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Science Foundation
Federal government spends millions of dollars on a floating canal museum, a Corvette museum, the National Packard Museum, and other museums of questionable merit
Costly AIDS vaccine study touted as a breakthrough may actually be a bust or boondoggle
Streetcar to nowhere: Stimulus funds may pay to construct an Atlanta streetcar but city may not even have the funds to operate it once it is built
$181 million stimulus project wasn’t shovel ready after all and local residents applaud decision to withdraw it from the state’s list of stimulus projects
Funding to assist rebuilding projects after Hurricane Katrina spent on sod for a stadium
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The Pork Report: October 9, 2009
by The Pork ReportSenator Byrd earmarks $5 million in Defense funds for a company that no longer exists
House committee earmarks $103 million of Defense funds to contractors who employ the congressmen’s former staffers-turned-lobbyists
National Science Foundation studies the bug splatter on the front bumper of a moving vehicle
National Historic Site in Maryland created by a congressional earmark costs $638,000 a year and has fewer visitors than some Alaskan parks that can’t even be reached by road
New USDA research agency already wants more money
Like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Federal Housing Administration might need a federal bailout
Most Interior Department law enforcement programs can not accurately account for the firearms under their control and some of their guns are vulnerable to theft
Bureau of Land Management employees too cozy with special interest groups and lobbyists, according to the Inspector General
A new computer system key to the nation’s air traffic control system has already run into problems, raising doubts about whether it can be operational when the current computers must be replaced
California has paid more than $8 million in late-payment penalties over the last two years because Sacramento did not pay the bills when they were owed
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The Pork Report: October 8, 2009
by The Pork ReportFrom the great folks at Sen. Tom Coburn’s office:
Political scientists lobbying Congress for federal subsidies
The National Science Foundation spends about $8 million annually to support political science research
Research sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Air Force attempts to predict individuals’ political affiliation based on Facebook profiles
Congress earmarks $3 million to a company owned by Goldman Sachs and two private equity funds
Congress raids the military’s maintenance budget to pay for $5 million earmark for digital scrapbooks
The Federal Aviation Administration has spent more than $270 million in federal stimulus grants on projects that scored poorly on the agency’s own national priority rating system
Department of Homeland Security steers nearly $1 million in federal funding, typically distributed to fire departments, to ACORN
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Pork Report: October 2, 2009
by The Pork ReportMoney intended for soldiers fighting war is instead being spent on senators’ home-state pet projects
Defense spending bill contains an earmark that has nothing to do with national defense, $20 million for an institute honoring late Senator Ted Kennedy
Maryland Senator earmarks tens of millions of dollars in a defense spending bill for her top campaign donors
New Jersey receives $4.8 million earmark to increase the size of Long Beach Island beaches and dunes
National Science Foundation hands out taxpayer cash in experiment to determine if birth order affects willingness to make risky economic decisions
Federal grant pays to design and build an exhibit about the significance of lacrosse
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Pork Report: October 1, 2009
by The Pork Report
Keep on Truckin’:
Grateful Dead archive receives $615,175 federal grant; “The ultimate goal… is that everyone will have a Grateful Dead experience”
Renovation project at the Bill Clinton presidential center will receive $2.5 million of federal stimulus funds
North Carolina Department of Transportation spending $1.2 million of federal stimulus funds to renovate a lighthouse and another $3 million to paint a bridge
Congress approves $250 million increase in its own budget
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