There's an "earmark"-laden appropriations bill being considered by Congress right now, and some anti-pork forces are marshaling to get more information about the spending out in public.
Congress is considering a bill Ӡthe Labor, Health and Human Services appropriations measure Ӡthat presently contains 1,867 earmarks worth more than a half-billion tax dollars and averaging nearly $268,000 each. Many are for things that sound like worthy causes such as "hospital facilities and equipment," yet none of the sponsoring congressmen put their names on their earmarks.
That's why The Examiner newspapers have joined with the Sunlight Foundation, Porkbusters.org, and Citizens Against Government Waste in posting the database of earmarks in the Labor-HHS appropriations and inviting readers to help identify the congressmen behind each earmark. Organizations like The Heritage Foundation, National Taxpayers Union and Club for Growth blog are linking to the database. The database was obtained from a congressional source and has been checked and double-checked. Congress may still modify the bill, approve it as is or reject it.
Check out the earmarks for your state and then call your congressman and ask if he or she sponsored any of your state's earmarks. If the answer is yes, ask why the congressman's name isn't on the earmark. If you recognize the institution designated to receive the earmarked tax dollars, call them and ask them what they intend to do with your money.
Here's the Illinois list. And I hope Congressman Tim Johnson votes no on this appropriation if it comes up in its current form. I'd prefer that sponsoring members' names were attached to earmarks for those projects that are included. And I'd prefer far fewer projects like this were funded by the Federal government in the first place.
Doesn't look like Tim's getting anything for us. Where's our piece of the pig?
Grants are the root cause of many of the biggest problems in gov't. None of the items on the list are of national interest.
And this is just one of the dozens of bills like this passed every year.
Good for Tim! We'd all be better off if all members of congress would "just say no" to pork. He's risking political criticism by doing the right tbing. I don't want to hear whining about "why didn't we get our pork."
One district's pork is our important project (Curtis Rd). Isn't it more important that there is more scrutiny and less "the bridge to nowhere"?
Good find, Gordy. The only item listed for Springfield is, $300,000 to the "Illinois Primary Health Care Association, for electronic medical records systems."
That the IPHCA is getting federal money is a bit baffling. Their office is a couple blocks from the Statehouse. It's an association. Even though they are a non-profit, I think it's safe to say their Springfield office a lobbyist operation.
Also, a quick review of their web site gives no indication that they actually see patients who have "medical records." So, why the need for a medical records system?
The about page states, "(IPHCA) is a non-for-profit trade association that proudly serves as Illinois' sole primary care association." I don't doubt they do good works, but just what does that mean?
We have three congressional districts running through Springfield. LaHood, Shimkus, and Evans. I can't imagine any of those guys are behind this $300,000 grant. I'd love to know who is, though.
Maybe someone from the IPHCA will see this a leave an explanation. (P.S. I live in Spfld., which is the only reason I zeroed in on this.)
There appears to be no projects of national interest only politicians check offs for the Novemeber elections.
While it is admirable that Tim has nothing for CU, any bets on whether or not he votes for it?