Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find an example of pork barrel spending by Congress. You need to provide a brief description of who (member of Congress) and where (the state), what (the project) , and how much (your tax dollars). I need something contemporary though and not something from 1976 (that means 2008 if you aren't sure). It needs to be original too; you can not post something one of your classmates has previously responded with.If you can link us to the site great.Otherwise just copy the website address in your response.If the info comes from a periodical, then cite it for us.
According to the Citizens Against Government Waste there are 11,610 projects at a cost of $17.2 billion in the 12 Appropriations Acts of the 2008 Federal Budget. A "pork" project is a line-item in an appropriations bill that designates tax dollars for a specific purpose in circumvention of established budgetary procedures.
My example...In the current 2008 budget Representative Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) got $1,950,000 for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service on the campus of New York City College. It was co-sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Clinton and Sen. Schumer (ironically both are Democrats from NY). What a great idea to use public funds to help build something that has your name on it. Quite an honor!
This is an assignment not extra credit. 5 points and credit given to the first 28 original entries and is due by the start of class on Dec. 1st.
Happy hunting for "pork".
Mr. Thompson
