Roy Maynard: Early Returns

Stupid government tricks aren't just a talent displayed by one party; they span the political spectrum. Republicans and Democrats displayed their skills last week in H.R. 3222, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act. Members of Congress stuffed the $471 billion bill full of pork, and President George W. Bush made matters worse by signing it (fearing money for the Defense Department would run out).

The spending watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste identifies 2,074 pork projects in the bill, worth $6.6 billion.

Some of these projects may be worthy (though I have my doubts), but they don't belong in a Defense Department appropriations bill.

Some of the more egregious examples include:

$25 million for the Hawaii Federal Health Care Network, added by Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii.

$23 million for the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC), added by Rep. John "Jack" Murtha, D-Pa., despite the fact the Justice Department doesn't want it or need it.

$20 million for historically black colleges and universities, added by Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La.

$5 million for Project SOAR, added by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, and Sens. Chuck Grassley,R-Iowa, and Tom Harkin, D-Iowa.

$4.8 million for the Jamaica Bay Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area added by Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y.

$2.4 million for the Lewis Center for Education Research, added by its namesake, House Appropriations Committee ranking member Jerry Lewis,R-Calif.

$2.4 million for the Vertical Lift Center of Excellence-Institute of Maintenance, Science and Technology, added by Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C. and Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C.

$2 million for brown tree snakes, added by Inouye.

$1.6 million for the New York Structural Biology Center, added by Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., and Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

$1.6 million for the Pat Roberts Intelligence Scholars Program (PRISP), added by Sen. Pat Roberts,R-Kan., himself.

$1.6 million for the Allen Telescope Array, added by Rep. Anna Eshoo,D-Calif. This one isn't defense-related, mind you - it's part of SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. I grant you that it would become defense-related if the aliens attack.

$1 million for transforming waste plastics into alterative fuels, added by Rep. David Hobson, R-Ohio.

Stuffing these projects into the Defense bill is an effective tactic, I suppose. But signing the bill - which Bush did with barely a sniff of displeasure - was the political equivalent of a parent giving in to a temper tantrum. Is this really a precedent we want to set?


Early Returns is the political observations column of staff writer Roy Maynard, who can be reached at 903-596-6291 or at roymaynardtmt@gmail.com.

Roy Maynard
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