That's a lot of Earmarks!

Michele Bachmann | April 14, 2010 1:18 PM

Don’t let the title confuse you, the 2010 Congressional Pig Book is a must read for American taxpayers. Highlighting the worst of government spending, the taxpayer can finally get an up-close look at where their hard earned tax monies are being spent. From $500,000 spent to control and ban Brown Tree Snakes in Guam to over two million on potato research that was “approved” by five Senators and five Representatives, it’s the best laugh since President Obama promised not to raise taxes on families making less that $250,000.

If only it weren’t so serious of a problem. According to Citizens Against Government Waste:

"The 2010 Pig Book identified 9,129 projects at a cost of $16.5 billion in the 12 Appropriations Acts for fiscal 2009. A 'pork' project is a line-item in an appropriations bill that designates tax dollars for a specific purpose in circumvention of established budgetary procedures. To qualify as pork, a project must meet one of seven criteria that were developed in 1991 by CAGW and the Congressional Porkbusters Coalition."

My thanks to Citizens Against Government Waste for reminding us all how broken and abused the earmarking system is.