Each year billions of tax dollars are added to bills and wasted on the special projects of congressmen. This act commonly referred to as pork barrel spending is an abuse by Congress.
Most pork barreling takes money that citizens work hard to obtain and wastes it on frivolous tasks under the guise of important appropriation bills. Politicians should show respect for taxpayers by using their money in the most effective and efficient manner possible.
Some politicians have recognized this problem and are working to reduce careless pork spending. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has made it a priority to deal with this problem.
“Why can’t we, for once, bring forward a bill-especially when we are at war, especially when we have young men and women fighting and dying-that is free of these unnecessary provisions and wasteful earmarks that result in outrageous kinds of spending? Can’t we do that just once?” asked McCain.
McCain’s words express the frustration that occurs when a bill is put forth to fund a specific project and other politicians use it to fund their costly pet projects.
Later in this same address, McCain questioned whether “$98 million for an agricultural facility in Ames, Iowa” or “$500,000 for sea lamprey control in Lake Champlain” was needed to win the war on terrorism.
As pork barrel spending continues, many groups have formed to combat the problem. Citizens Against Government Waste, a non-profit organization, reported the government spent $22.5 billion on special-interest projects in the 13 annual appropriations bills last year.
The study showed that each citizen of Mississippi paid an average of $75 on pork last year. It also showed that that in the same year every tax-paying citizen of Alaska paid about $610 on pork.
Much of the pork added to bills is unnecessary. For example, Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) had $90,000 allocated to aid a cowgirl museum in Fort Worth. This tax money could be better used to help Texas’s faltering education system.
In Alabama, about $200,000 was appropriated to support the National Peanut Festival Fairgrounds. The list does not end here; it only gets worse. Rep. Lois Capps, (D-Calif.) had $50,000 apportioned to fund a tattoo removal program in her home district of Santa Barbara. In a time when our country is pushing through a recession, this money could be used by federal agencies that have endured budget cuts.
The spending of federal tax money on local projects makes the taxpayers of a city, say Starkville, fund a project to build a road in Ohio. A town should not have to pay for a local project half way across the country that is funded by federal tax dollars. The local government and taxes should fund the road in Ohio.
Pork barrel spending persists for two reasons.
First, congressmen need to gain votes to be re-elected. In order to help themselves, they use their power to take other’s money to please friends. Second, these politicians use pork barreling to push through projects that stall at the local level.
Because pork barrel spending has become second nature to politicians, it will never completely cease to exist. However, the types of projects that it can be used on need to be regulated.
Charlie Swanson is a freshman business administration major. He can be reached at [email protected].