For Immediate Release	Contacts:       Leslie K. Paige 202-467-5334
December 3, 2007	Alexa Moutevelis 202-467-5318

 

Washington, D.C. - Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today made public a comprehensive, searchable database of the 2,076 projects worth $6.6 billion in the Fiscal 2008 Department of Defense Appropriations Act, H.R. 3222.

“With our more transparent format, egregious projects such as $3,000,000 for the First Tee golf program, $2,400,000 for House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Jerry Lewis’s (R-Calif.) Lewis Center for Education Research, and $2,000,000 for brown tree snakes are more easily found,” said CAGW President Tom Schatz. 

The 2,074 projects worth $6.6 billion in the FY 2008 defense bill compare to 2,618 projects worth $10.8 billion that were identified in CAGW’s 2007 Congressional Pig Book.  This represents a decrease of 21 percent in the number of earmarks and a 38 percent decrease in the dollar amount.  The 2006 Congressional Pig Book identified 2,822 projects worth $14.9 billion, while the 2005 Congressional Pig Book found 2,606 projects at a cost of $12.7 billion. 

Democrats brought in 877 projects, or 42 percent of the total, while Republicans received 630 in earmarks, or 30 percent.  The final 27 percent, 568 projects, was requested by multiple parties or did not identify a sponsor. 

On November 13, 2007, President Bush signed the defense bill as well as a continuing resolution to fund the government until December 14.  Democrats have recently announced a plan to split the difference between their total appropriations spending and the president’s budget request – a gap that now stands at $23 billion.  The roughly $12 billion would go into an omnibus package of the remaining 11 appropriations.  It is uncertain if this deal will work as the president has vowed to veto any spending bill that goes over his request.

“The year-long continuing resolution for fiscal year 2007 that cut out pork for nine of the eleven bills, proved that the country can survive without such excessive spending.  The best solution to this year’s budget dispute for taxpayers would be another earmark moratorium,” concluded Schatz.

The Microsoft Excel database is available at www.cagw.org.

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.