At the heart of the debate over the stimulus and Obama's budget is the issue of pork-barrel spending. Some people have made persuasive arguments recently that pork-barrel doesn't matter because the money will be spent regardless--earmarks just allocate it toward certain purposes.
This is true, but when one actually looks at these earmarks, it begs the question: would we be better off if we just didn't spend this money at all? Would we be better off if we just let people in the private sector spend this money--maybe toward starting new businesses?
There is perhaps no better document of the sheer insanity of much of this spending than the Pig Book, released every year by nonprofit watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste. (Full disclosure: years ago when I was in college, I did a summer internship at CAGW.)
The 2009 Pig Book has just been released, and here are some highlights I found while skimming through it:
--$1.8 million for swine odor and manure research management in Ames, Iowa.
--$951,500 for energy efficient street lighting in downtown Detroit. Is this the top issue that Detroit residents want addressed, or might they have a few more pressing concerns?
--$41.5 million for various projects funding presidential libraries.
--$27.8 million for fitness centers at Air Force bases in Texas, South Carolina and Mississippi.
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