Watchdog group finds $12 billion of pork in defense legislation

[The Straight Story]

Watchdog group finds $12 billion of pork in defense legislation

By Peter Cohn, CongressDaily
From stainless steel bathrooms to high-intensity flashlights to parade field renovations, the $417.5 billion fiscal 2005 Defense appropriations bill ran the gamut with 2,671 earmarks totaling $12.2 billion, according to an exhaustive seven-month investigation by Taxpayers for Common Sense.

The budget watchdog group claims its report is the most comprehensive inspection ever of a Defense appropriations bill, identifying the home state or district that 86 percent of the well-hidden earmarks would benefit.

Naturally, the largest percentage of the spoils went to congressional leaders and members of the House and Senate Appropriations committees, the group found. House leaders, for their part, averaged $416 million in earmarks for their constituents while House Appropriations Chairman Jerry Lewis -- the former Defense Appropriations Subcommittee chairman -- helped to bring home almost $1 billion in fiscal 2005 to California, the report found, although only about $28 a head in his densely populated state.

In the House, Washington state received the most per person in defense funds at $57.91 a head, thanks to the presence of former Rep. George Nethercutt, a Republican, and Democratic Rep. Norm Dicks on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0305/031105cdpm1.htm

[barbaraann]

1. Regarding Washington State's share,

the spirit of Scoop Jackson is still alive. (Dem father of the PNACers)

[unblock]

2. why did they do house members by state, not district?

why did they point out that lewis's pork was only $28/head when you divide his pork by the entire state of california?

ok, i'm sure it's hard enough allocating the pork to the state level, nevermind trying to figure out how it's allocated at the district level. but i think it's safe to assume that the politicians are sure to help their own district much more than the rest of the state.