Disgust with spending

I've been meaning to write on this for a while, but it seems every time I forget, another example crops up about the incredible spending spree our government has been on.

And yes, all you Democrats out there, that includes (and in many cases is solely attributable to) President Bush. He is definitely not a member of the "Government works best when it governs least" model, at least as it pertains to spending.

What initially set me off was the gluttonous highway bill recently passed by Congress and signed by the president. He had threatened to veto any bill of more than $255 billion. Instead, he signed a $286 billion bill.

Don Young (R-Alaska), the chairman of the House transportation committee, is said to have bragged to a homestate newspaper that he "stuffed (the bill) like a turkey" with pork projects for various congressional districts. In fact, he directed almost $1 billion to his own state, including a $231 million bridge to be named in his honor. Another $223 million bridge will connect Ketchikan with nearby Gravina Island, home to 50 people and the community's airport, currently accessible by a seven-minute ferry ride.

And then he had the nerve to say that the value of the highway bill "is not the funding level that I wanted." Did he want more? He can't argue with a straight face that he wanted less, can he?

According to the Cato & Heritage Institutes, the bill included more than 6,300 specific pork projects (called "earmarks") at a total cost of $24 billion. The previous bill in 1998, by contrast, included 1,850 earmarks; the 1991 version had 548; and the 1987 bill, which Congress passed by overriding President Reagan's veto, included just 152.

What are the current earmarks? Here's just the tip of the iceberg, some taken from a good Boston Globe column by Jeff Jacoby:

• $480,000 to rehabilitate a historic warehouse on the Erie Canal
• $3 million for dust control mitigation on Arkansas rural roads
• $3 million for a film ''about infrastructure that demonstrates advancements in Alaska, the last frontier"
• $600,000 for horse riding facilities in Virginia
• $5.9 million for a snowmobile trail in Vermont
• $1.25 million for a daycare center and park-and-ride facility in Illinois
• $2.75 million for the National Packard Museum in Ohio

Oregon's congressional delegation secured the 11th highest amount of earmarks ($566 million) — not bad, considering the state population ranks it 28th in the country. Some projects include widening I-5 & Highway 217, and beginning the process of replacing the Interstate and Sellwood Bridges. Some of the remaining 129 Oregon projects are, um, interesting:

• $2.8 million for bike & pedestrian lanes in Eugene's Delta Ponds area
• $4 million for Portland streetcars
• $16 million to the Center for Transportation Studies (CTS) at Portland State University

Congressional members like the bill because every $1 billion supposedly creates 47,500 jobs, but really, was this all necessary? Especially in light of the billions of dollars our country will spend to rebuild the Gulf Coast?

Apparently, some people think so. Montana has already suggested giving up its $4 million parking garage to help the hurricane-ravaged area. More states should be thinking like that.

With that in mind, check out this list of government waste compiled by the Heritage Foundation (again, just the tip of the iceberg):

• The federal government cannot account for $24.5 billion spent in 2003.
• A White House review of just a sample of the federal budget identified $90 billion spent on programs deemed that were either ineffective, marginally adequate, or operating under a flawed purpose or design.
• The Congressional Budget Office published a “Budget Options” book identifying $140 billion in potential spending cuts.
• The federal government spends $23 billion annually on special interest pork projects such as grants to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, or funds to combat teenage “goth” culture in Blue Springs, Missouri.
• Washington spends tens of billions of dollars on failed and outdated programs such as the Rural Utilities Service, U.S. Geological Survey and Economic Development Association.
• The federal government made $20 billion in overpayments in 2001.
• The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s $3.3 billion in overpayments in 2001 accounted for over 10 percent of the department’s total budget.
• Over one recent 18-month period, Air Force and Navy personnel used government-funded credit cards to charge at least $102,400 for admission to entertainment events, $48,250 for gambling, $69,300 for cruises, and $73,950 for exotic dance clubs and prostitutes.
• Examples of wasteful duplication include: 342 economic development programs; 130 programs serving the disabled; 130 programs serving at-risk youth; 90 early childhood development programs; 75 programs funding international education, cultural, and training exchange activities; and 72 federal programs dedicated to assuring safe water.
• The Advanced Technology Program spends $150 million annually subsidizing private businesses, and 40% of this goes to Fortune 500 companies.
• The Defense Department wasted $100 million on unused flight tickets, and never bothered to collect refunds even though the tickets were reimbursable.
• The Conservation Reserve program pays farmers $2 billion annually to not farm their land.
• Washington spends $60 billion annually on corporate welfare, versus $43 billion on homeland security.
• The Department of Agriculture spends $12 billion to $30 billion annually on farm subsidies, the vast majority of which go to agribusinesses and farmers averaging $135,000 in annual income.
• Massive farm subsidies also go to several members of Congress, and celebrity “hobby farmers” such as David Rockefeller, Ted Turner, Scottie Pippen, and former Enron CEO Ken Lay.
• The Medicare program pays as much as eight times the cost that other federal agencies pay for the same drugs and medical supplies.
• Congressional investigators were able to receive $55,000 in federal student loan funding for a fictional college they created to test the Department of Education.
• The Army Corps of Engineers has been accused of illegally manipulating data to justify expensive but unnecessary public works projects.
• Food stamp overpayments cost $600 million annually.
• School lunch program abuse costs $120 million annually.
• Veterans’ program overpayments cost $800 million annually.
• Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) overpayments cost $9 billion annually.
• Better tracking of student loan recipients would save $1 billion annually.
• Preventing states from using accounting tricks to secure additional Medicaid funds would save several billion dollars annually.
• Medicare contractors owe the federal government $7 billion.

That's almost half a trillion dollars, folks.

I like George Bush, and I like having a Republican-controlled congress. But a touch of fiscal discipline would be nice here and there.