Mysterious fund allows Congress to spend freely, despite earmark ban (DoD pork)

[underpants]

Source: CNN

Washington (CNN) -- The defense bill that just passed the House of Representatives (CNN can't say "Republican lead House" I guess) includes a back-door fund that lets individual members of Congress funnel millions of dollars into projects of their choosing.

This can be done despite a congressional ban on these so-called "earmarks" -- special, discretionary spending that has funded Congress' pet projects back home for years, but now has fallen out of favor because of budget-conscious deficit hawks.

Roughly $1 billion was quietly transferred from projects listed in the president's defense budget and placed into the "transfer fund." This fund, which wasn't in previous year's defense budgets (when earmarks were permitted), served as a piggy bank from which committee members were able to draw money to cover the cost of programs introduced by their amendments.

"These amendments may very likely duck the House's specific definition of what constitutes an earmark, but that doesn't mean they aren't pork," says Leslie Paige of Citizens Against Government Waste, a government-spending watchdog group. The group believes if modification of the National Defense Authorization Act generated savings, that money should have been put toward paying down the deficit.





Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/05/28/mysterious.fund/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn

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Notice that 2 of the 3 projects mentioned are for Dems :eyes:

[toddwv]

1. Nothing more than a pork flavored slush fund.

The article is strikingly replete of any reference to the fact that the Republicans control the House and, therefore, the committee that controls the fund.

[DeSwiss]

2. The government is useless.....

...to us. It only works for them.

K&R

[a simple pattern]

3. Citizens Against Government Waste?

Smells like Koch.

[JackRiddler]

4. "Smells like" is not an evidentiary standard.

Do you think a google search is too much effort?

[Hannah Bell]

6. same difference -- winger outfit.

Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the United States. It functions as a think-tank, 'government watchdog', and advocacy group for fiscally conservative causes.

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) is the lobbying arm of CAGW, organized as a section 501(c)(4) organization, and therefore permitted to engage in direct lobbying activities. CAGW has been criticized for its links to the tobacco industry and to lobbyists including Jack Abramoff.

Throughout its history, CAGW has been accused of fronting lobbying efforts of corporations to give them the appearance of "grassroots" support.<16> In part, this is because CAGW has accepted donations from Phillip Morris, the Olin Foundation, the Bradley Foundation, Microsoft, Merrill Lynch, and Exxon-Mobil.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_Against_Government_Waste

[JackRiddler]

7. Didn't doubt it, Sister Hannah...

I just wanted a simple pattern not to make such a claim without backing so simple to get. That's why I didn't do it for him/her.

Anyway, their motives are easy enough to see, but who's for a special Pentagon pork fund? Nobody, I hope?

[underpants]

8. Notice that they only "watch dog" mentioned is a RW one

the whole article is about not mentioning the Republicans it would seem to me

[Hannah Bell]

9. i might be for it if it were a way around the austerity spending programme some

are attempting to introduce.

pork keeps people working.

[Scottybeamer70]

5. Gee..........

There really is no limit to their tricks, is there?
They just do whatever the hell they want, no questions asked.
They couldn't care less about the little people.........they've never been one of us to begin with.