Pork or progress?

Posted at 6:07 PM on April 2, 2008 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)

Citizens Against Government Waste, the organization which monitors pork spending in Congress, is out with the 2008 Pig Book, which chronicles questionable appropriations that are thrown into bills.

The national average cost per person is $33.77. In Minnesota the "pork per capita" is over $38, putting the state in 26th place, up from #38 in 2006. (See table here)

On this page, you can search the individual projects by state or politician.

The group cites 127 different projects in Minnesota, but none seem to fall into the category the group cites in handing out its "Oinker Awards" for such projects as the $188 million given to Washington state and Maine for The Lobster Institute or the $98,000 to develop a walking tour of Boydton, Virginia.

Minnesota Rep. John Kline has sworn off "earmarks" and has no projects on the list. Rep. Michele Bachmann has also said she won't be seeking project funding through earmarks. She has three projects on the list, however.

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Comments (2)

The Congress is insane!!

Here is a project that Keith Ellison is requesting for Minneapolis.

City of Minneapolis for land and building acquisition, renovation and construction as part of the city's redevelopment plan (Economic Development Initiative)

I ask "Why should the citizens of Des Moines and Denver be required to repay a loan from Chinese peasents to help the City of Minneapolis acquire land?

Are people even aware how much "Federal Tax Money" is really money borrowed from China?

Posted by GregS | April 3, 2008 6:25 AM

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It's been fairly well-documented that MN puts more money into the federal tax rolls than it gets back from the US government in the form of local spending.

Posted by Snuffy | April 3, 2008 12:42 PM

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