Report says $5 million worth of earmarks still being buried in bills

In 2011, Congress decided to ban earmarks. Politicians patted themselves on the back congratulating everyone for not wasting your money on bridges to nowhere or video game development. Well, earmarks are still around, they’re just harder to find, says a new report from the Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW).

According to the report released Sunday entitled “All About Pork,” congressmen found ways to sneak $5 million worth of earmarks into legislation without anyone noticing. Despite the ban, congressmen and senators who are dedicated to wasting your money are working hard to get their earmarks into bills.

“Each of the appropriations bills passed since the initiation of the earmark moratorium was certified as ‘earmark-free’ according to Congress’s definitions. CAGW believes this claim can be challenged based on the inclusion of projects that have appeared in past appropriations bills as earmarks,” CAGW said in its report. “The question for those in Congress who continue to deny the existence of earmarks in appropriations bills approved in the past six years is: Why were these projects previously considered earmarks, but not after the moratorium was established?”

Here are a few examples of the waste over the years:

In 2002, $273,000 was spent to combat goth culture.

In 2004, $50 million was spent on an indoor rain forest.

In 2006, $500,000 was spent on the Sparta Teapot Museum in North Carolina.

Since 1994, M1 Abrams tank upgrades used 38 earmarks wasting $908.6 million even thought the Pentagon says it isn’t needed for modern warfare.

Since 1994, Aquatic Plant Control Projects 20 earmarks used wasting $30.1 million.

Since 2000, Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund used 20 earmarks wasting $149.5 million.

Since 2004, Alternative Energy Research used 25 earmarks wasting $254.9 million.

Although the general consensus is that earmarking is abuse of tax dollars, many public officials on both sides want it back, according to the Daily Caller. Alaska Republican Congressman Don Young thinks the GOP has its “head buried in the sand” on this issue, while Missouri Democratic Congressman Emanuel Cleaver stated that it helps keep the negotiating process open.

CAGW sums up earmarking perfectly with this statement:

“Earmarks create a few winners (appropriators, special interests and lobbyists) and a great many losers (taxpayers). They contribute to the deficit directly, by tacking on extra funding and indirectly, by attracting votes to costly legislation that might not otherwise pass.”