Who is the fattest Pig- Meaning Biggest Wasteful Pork Barrel Spender?

[GHook93]

***Disclaimer: I created this thread back in April of 2008 on another board, so some could be outdated***

http://www.cagw.org/site/DocServer/S...pdf?docID=3024

Senate:
(1) Thad Cochran - Fake Republican out of MS - #1 - $846 million
(13) Clinton - Why am I not surprise she is so high - $296.2 million (This is obviously before she became secretary of State)
(20)Harry Reid- Preach how wasteful the war is, but you waste $259.3 million yourself
(21) Dick Durbin - Please Sauerberg beat this guy (sorry to say Steve lost), he is bleeding IL dry - $256.3 million
(33) Ted Kennedy - One of the worst Americans alive (but now he is dead)- $192.1 million
(34) Lieberman - Yep he is still a Democrat -$149.4 million
(38) Kerry - $138.8 million
(60) Obama - I was actually pleasantly surprised how low he was. However, I am skeptical that it is so low because he hasn't been in office long and his campaigning has interfered with his senate job. - $97.4 million (obviously when he was a senator)

Bottom of the List with a bi $0 - that is not spending a cent for all of you slow people!
McCain and Feingold!
Now that is true fiscal conservatism!

The House
http://www.cagw.org/site/DocServer/H...pdf?docID=3022
in the Millions
(1) Wicker - $176.3
(3) Murtha - $159.1
(7) Biden - $139.9 (for his little shitty state)
(19) Pelosi - $91.2
(23) Hobson - $88

Ron Paul - $22.7 million- middle of the list not sure the number- I was very surprised. You would figure this guy would practice what he preach and spend nothing (like McCain did), but I guess he is just a politician. There were 276 representative that spent less, including 10 that spent $0

Here is a list of '08 presidential candidate that spent less than Ron Paul and the number of space they beat him by:
Tancredo - $17.6 - 52 lower
Duncan - $15.9 - 75 lower
Kucinich - $8.1 - 182 lower
Graves - $6.7 - 196 lower

Shocking Ron Paul!

 

[GHook93]

Pork barrel spending is government spending for projects that are intended primarily to benefit particular constituents or campaign contributors (its different than other spending). It is pandering to a special interest in which the funds get diluted and wasted on projects that are purely political.

Big Dig failures threaten federal funding - The Boston Globe
it involves funding for government programs whose economic or service benefits are concentrated in a particular area but whose costs are spread among all taxpayers.

Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) and the Congressional Porkbusters Coalition developed seven criteria for a project to qualify as pork:

Citizens Against Government Waste:
(1) Requested by only one chamber of Congress;
(2) Not specifically authorized;
(3) Not competitively awarded;
(4) Not requested by the President;
(5) Greatly exceeds the President’s budget request or the previous year’s funding;
(6) Not the subject of congressional hearings; and
(7) Serves only a local or special interest.

Bottom Line: Pork is bad and UNJUST!!!

 

[slackjawed]

Here is a more current list by project.
Citizens Against Government Waste:
and another page that shows pork has gone down by 12%.e sad part is it may have , but that could be due to reclassifying pork as stimulous.
Citizens Against Government Waste:

 

[Oddball]

Ron Paul - $22.7 million- middle of the list not sure the number- I was very surprised. You would figure this guy would practice what he preach and spend nothing (like McCain did), but I guess he is just a politician. There were 276 representative that spent less, including 10 that spent $0

Here is a list of '08 presidential candidate that spent less than Ron Paul and the number of space they beat him by:
Tancredo - $17.6 - 52 lower
Duncan - $15.9 - 75 lower
Kucinich - $8.1 - 182 lower
Graves - $6.7 - 196 lower

Shocking Ron Paul!

I'm pretty sure Dr. Paul raised more money than all of those guys combined. When you have more to spend on your campaign, you spend more.

As for his earmarking, he has explained that by that being the process by which he gets the federal tax dollars taken out of his district back to it. We may not like the way that the income tax is structured, but if we qualify for something like the EITC we get it nonetheless.

Not saying that I endorse the reasoning on way or the other, just pointing it out.

 

[uscitizen]

The pill bill was an earmark for the drug industry.

 

[DngrMse]

Easy question!

The answer is, "The American People". They're the ones that keep returning the ear mark crowd to congress.

 

[Modbert]

I think the irony that McCain is the true Fiscal Conservative after all of the Republicans complaints this last November is hilarious.

And Feingold is a good guy, but he's a Dem too Ghook. Notice Dennis towards the bottom too.

 

[Oddball]

Not earmarking up bloated spending bills does not a "fiscal conservative" make. Most of that spending would be going back to the state, in the form of block grants, anyways.

A much more telling action is how they vote on final passage of those travesties.

 

[slackjawed]

quote from dude;
"A much more telling action is how they vote on final passage of those travesties."

boy thats the truth!

 

[Modbert]

Jindal has Pelosi beat with $10 million more and less than half the number of projects.

And to think he was once the frontrunner for 2012.

 

[Si modo]

What the hell is a 'frontrunner' for an election three years away?

 

[Modbert]

What the hell is a 'frontrunner' for an election three years away?

Someone in good shape. Though it seems all the Republican frontrunners are cursed so far.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

Let's also note that Ron Paul voted against all the spending that went to his district, and let's also note that that money is going to be spent regardless of whether or not it's earmarked. It's not like refusing earmarks saves any money.

 

[GHook93]

I think the irony that McCain is the true Fiscal Conservative after all of the Republicans complaints this last November is hilarious.

And Feingold is a good guy, but he's a Dem too Ghook. Notice Dennis towards the bottom too.

Hence spending isn't bipartisan, see Cochran!

Did I not mention Feingold in a possible light. Did I not list Kunich and Graves.

 

[GHook93]

Jindal has Pelosi beat with $10 million more and less than half the number of projects.

And to think he was once the frontrunner for 2012.

The guys a governor, not a Congressman, dickhead.

Jihdal was never the front-runner.

But if LS spend a lot of money, well it had to due with an act of god by the name of Katrina, ya heard of it.

 

[GHook93]

Let's also note that Ron Paul voted against all the spending that went to his district, and let's also note that that money is going to be spent regardless of whether or not it's earmarked. It's not like refusing earmarks saves any money.

Um, have you not been paying attention, he took more pork than nearly every Congressman in the Rep primaries and a few Dem's also. He obviously didn't vote against much.

 

[WillowTree]

Jindal has Pelosi beat with $10 million more and less than half the number of projects.

And to think he was once the frontrunner for 2012.

look dogbutt, Jindal has more to contend with post Katrina donchyathink? asswipe,, and not to mention did ya notice the Second Louisiana purcharse earlier this month? Cost Reid 100 million dollars to buy Landrau's (sp?) vote.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

Let's also note that Ron Paul voted against all the spending that went to his district, and let's also note that that money is going to be spent regardless of whether or not it's earmarked. It's not like refusing earmarks saves any money.

Um, have you not been paying attention, he took more pork than nearly every Congressman in the Rep primaries and a few Dem's also. He obviously didn't vote against much.

I've been paying very close attention, perhaps it's you that needs to look a bit deeper. He votes against all pork, including that for his own district, on the basis that it's unconstitutional for the federal government to be spending on such projects. It's supposed to be a state issue. You're also ignoring the fact that the money gets spent regardless, and that it doesn't save a single cent to refuse pork or earmarks.