Thursday, December 04, 2003
Pork products
Congress wants to spend $3 million this year to introduce more young Americans to the game of golf. It wants to set aside $200,000 to subsidize a documentary movie about Kalahari Desert bushmen. It also wants to build a $50 million indoor rainforest in Iowa.
Scattered throughout a massive $328 billion spending bill to pay for highways, health programs and scores of federal agencies are millions of dollars in spending for specific pet projects of influential lawmakers.
The "omnibus" spending bill, which is set for a vote in the House of Representatives on Monday, also contains a collection of policies backed by President Bush that in some instances flatly contradict the wishes of House and Senate majorities, including provisions governing travel to Cuba and restricting media ownership concentration.
The Senate, scheduled to convene Tuesday, is unlikely to take up the bill because Democrats don't plan to be there to vote on it.
Critics say the bill represents a marked shift in how Congress exercises its constitutional power of the purse by changing or setting government policies without congressional review. What's more, the number of lawmaker-specified projects, or "earmarks" in the spending bill - usually for popular programs in their home states or districts - has been rising exponentially since the 1990s.
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But what Congress giveth, Congress can taketh away. The legislation would cut $92,500 from the Washington Metro subway system as punishment for once accepting advertising that promoted the decriminalization of marijuana. It also would prohibit any transit systems that get federal money from displaying ads that promote legalization or the medical use of controlled substances.
Much more.
posted by chris at 4:18 PM
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