Outrageous Waste Of Taxpayer Funds

Among the many examples of waste in the bill appropriations process, which politicians abuse to acquire federal money for projects back home, is a $550,000 allocation hidden in a transportation bill for an obscure North Carolina teapot museum.

Politicians bring home millions of dollars every year for bogus projects by earmarking them onto large bills after legislation has already passed. This year, Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) secured the $550,000 in federal money for the Sparta Teapot Museum in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The money is part of a Transportation/Treasury/HUD appropriations bill.

Taxpayer watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste has identified nearly 10,000 projects in 11 appropriations bills for 2006, costing taxpayers $29 billion. Among them is $13.5 million for the International Fund for Ireland, which includes funding for the World Toilet Summit; $1 million for the Waterfree Urinal Conservation Initiative in Michigan; $234,000 for the Wild Turkey Federation in South Carolina and $550,000 for the Museum of Glass in Tacoma Washington.

Eyes to See/Ears to Hear writes that this sort of government spending is underhanded and sneaky and that most taxpayers would forgo the projects in favor of balancing the federal deficit. Citizen U says that, while Congressional earmarks are tyrannizing us, regular guys are beginning to take notice which could make earmarks a thing of the past.