The pork twins: Hodes, Shea-Porter love earmarks
Carol Shea-Porter and Paul Hodes said they would bring New Hampshire values to Washington by pinching pennies and voting against special interests. They must have meant "Republican special interests" because they have voted to waste millions of taxpayer dollars on useless pork projects requested by their fellow Democrats (and one influential Republican).
Earlier this month The Club for Growth released its 2007 "Repork Card" for members of the House. The card reports the votes on 50 amendments to defund specific pork projects. Shea-Porter voted against 49 of the 50 amendments. Hodes, who was supposed to be more frugal than Shea-Porter, scored a zero, voting against all 50.
What were some of the projects these supposedly frugal Yankee legislators voted to fund? How about $2 million for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at the City College of New York? Yes, that would be Rep. Charles B. Rangel, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and also chairman of the board of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which is responsible for funneling party money to congressional candidates.
But there's more. Hodes and Shea-Porter voted to squander your tax money on many other pork projects, including:
The American Ballet Theater in New York City ($150,000);
The National Mule and Packers Museum in Woodlake, Calif. ($50,000);
The Doyle Center for Manufacturing Technology in Pittsburgh, Pa. ($1.5 million);
The National Drug Intelligence Center in Johnstown, Pa. ($39 million);
The Center for Instrumented Critical Infrastructure in Johnstown, Pa. ($1 million);
The Alaska Native Education Equity program ($34 million).
On the House floor, the Democratic representative in charge of the subcommittee that approved money for the Center for Instrumented Critical Infrastructure admitted he had no idea if the center even existed. The money was approved anyway. Patrick O'Connor of Politico.com reported later that the money actually goes to a private nonprofit corporation whose chairman and CEO has given $7,000 to Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., who requested the earmark.
Murtha also requested the other Pennsylvania earmarks on this list. The $39 million for the National Drug Intelligence Center is money "the Pentagon does not need or want," columnist Robert Novak reported this month. But Hodes and Shea-Porter voted for the funding anyway.
The $34 million for Alaska Native Education Equity was requested by famed porker Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska. On the House floor he called it "my money, my money." Hodes and Shea-Porter voted to make all $34 million of it his.
Next time Hodes and Shea-Porter claim to be fiscally responsible, ask how they could vote to give $1 million to a John Murtha campaign donor through a disguised earmark and another $39 million to a Defense project in Murtha's district that the Pentagon did not want.
unionleader.com |
