The conservative Heritage Foundation is angry that the GOP has become the Pork Party;
Over the last four years, federal spending has increased from $16,000 per household to $20,000 per household, the highest level since World War II.[1]
The Medicare and energy bills, although experiencing different fates, share one common denominator: little reform at huge cost, while loaded with special-interest spending.
...Congressýs continued fiscal irresponsibility is clearly exhibited in the thousands of pork projects contained in the fiscal year 2004 omnibus spending bill. Congress is set to bust its own budget cap in order to protect pork projects such as the Please Touch Museum and Trout Genome Mapping.
...the number of pork projects skyrocketed from under 2,000 five years ago to 9,362 in the 2003 budget. Total spending on pork projects has correspondingly increased to over $23 billion.[3]
And the Republicans completely control the Pork -- denying any to anyone who votes against what Rove/DeLay want.
One notable aspect of the earmark tab is that it has quietly grown 30-fold in the years since the GOP won the House in 1994.
Remember the Contract with America's promises of a meaner, leaner government? Well it's meaner, if not leaner:
House leaders are threatening to dole out earmark money only to loyal Republicans. They would stiff taxpayers whose Democratic representatives dared to oppose obvious flaws in the spending measure.