Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Wasteful Things in the Porkapalooza Package

You might support some or all of these things, but they don't need to be in an *emergency* spending bill.

$2 billion earmark for FutureGen near zero emissions powerplant in Mattoon, IL

$39 billion slush fund for “state fiscal stabilization” bailout

$5.5 billion for making federal buildings “green” (including $448 million for DHS HQ)

$200 million for workplace safety in USDA facilities

$275 million for flood prevention

$65 million for watershed rehabilitation

$200 million for public computer centers at community colleges and libraries

$650 million for the DTV transition coupon program

$307 million for constructing NIST office buildings

$1 billion for administrative costs and construction of NOAA office buildings

$100 million for constructing U.S. Marshalls office buildings

$300 million for constructing FBI office buildings

$800 million for constructing Federal Prison System buildings and facilities

$10 million to fight Mexican gunrunners

$1.3 billion for NASA (including $450 million for “science” at NASA)

$100 million to clean up sites used in early U.S. atomic energy program

$10 million for urban canals

$2 billion for manufacturing advanced batteries for hybrid cars

$1.5 billion for carbon capture projects under sec. 703 of P.L. 110-140 (though
section only authorizes $1 billion for five years)

$300 million for hybrid and electric cars for federal employees

$198 million to design and furnish the DHS headquarters

$255 million for “priority procurements” at Coast Guard (polar ice breaker)

$500 million for State and local fire stations

$180 million for construction of Bureau of Land Management facilities

$500 million for wildland fire management

$110 million for construction for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

$522 million for construction for the Bureau of Indian Affairs

$650 million for abandoned mine sites

$75 million for the Smithsonian Institution

$1.2 billion for summer jobs for youth

$412 million for CDC headquarters

$500 million earmark for NIH facilities in Bethesda, MD

$160 million for “volunteers” at the Corp. for National and Community Service

$750 earmark for the National Computer Center in MD

$224 million for International Boundary and Water Commission – U.S. and Mexico

$850 million for Amtrak

$100 million for lead paint hazard reduction