(Washington,
D.C.) - Not since Sens. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Daniel
Akaka (D-Hawaii) in 1991, have two senators from one state scored
zero in the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste's (CCAGW)
Congressional Ratings. The Hawaiians' ten-year reign comes to
an end as Senators Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.)
have earned goose eggs in CCAGW's 2001 Congressional Ratings.
For this and their general love of all things tax and spend, we name
Sens. Conrad and Dorgan the June 2002 Porkers of the
Month.
For the first session
of the 107th Congress, the terrible twosome voted against
eliminating the marriage penalty, creating a Social Security
lockbox, and eliminating sugar subsidies. The pair could not
even stomach eliminating $2 million from the Fiscal 2002 Veterans
Affairs/Housing and Urban Development Appropriation for Birmingham,
Ala.'s Vulcan Statue monument.
In addition, the porky
pair managed to give themselves a raise by voting against Sen. Russ
Feingold's (D-Wis.) motion to eliminate the fiscal 2002
congressional cost-of-living adjustment.
The dastardly duo
pigged out in their committees, too. From his perch on the
Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Dorgan helped secure $59.7
million, or $94.02 per North Dakotan, in pork barrel projects for
fiscal 2002. No doubt Sen. Conrad, chairman of the Senate
Budget Committee, helped with this haul. Earmarks included:
- $1 million for the
Grand Forks Greenway trail system;
- $1 million for the
Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Roadway project;
- $720,000 for cereal
crops research;
- $250,000 for a
virtual archive storage terminal at North Dakota State
University;
- $175,000 for
graduate retention at Mayville State University; and
- $100,000 for Lewis
and Clark exhibits at the Confluence Visitors Center and the North
Dakota State Historical Society.
North Dakota finished
seventh in pork per capita for fiscal 2002, up four spots from
fiscal 2001.
If their actions this
spring are any indication, Conrad and Dorgan are on the road to zero
ratings for 2002. Both supported passage of the pork-laden
Farm Security Act, which will cost taxpayers $170 billion over the
next 10 years. Of the legislation a Conrad press release
boasts, "The farm bill makes a strong commitment to the vitality of
rural communities." Really? More than two-thirds of the
benefits will go to farmers and agri-businesses who earn more than
$250,000 per year. Beneficiaries include ABC newsman Sam
Donaldson and NBA star Scottie Pippen.
According to the Tax
Foundation, in fiscal 2000, for every dollar North Dakotans poured
into the federal Treasury, they received $1.86 back. Only New
Mexicans received a better return. In contrast, Connecticut
received $.62 for every dollar paid in taxes.
For expecting other
states to support their porcine habits, for breaking an infamous
ten-year record, and for attempting to disguise farm subsidies as a
national security matter, Citizens Against Government Waste names
Senators Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan its June 2002 Porkers of the
Month.
Citizens Against
Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated
to eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in government. For more
information, see CAGW's web site at http://www.cagw.org/.
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