Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) presents its 2019 Pork-Barrel Madness bracket in honor of the NCAA tournament.  The bracket features 32 of the worst pork-barrel earmarks of all time.  Taxpayers will be able to vote on CAGW’s Twitter account @GovWaste.  Voting on the first-round matchups begins on March 11 and the tournament will end on April 8.

PigFoot Region:

   1. Bridge to Nowhere - The $223 million Gravina Island Bridge would have connected the Alaska mainland to an island of only 50 people.

   2. Sparta Teapot Museum - $500,000 for construction of a Teapot Museum in Sparta, North Carolina.

   3. Swine research - $400,000 for manure management research at the National Swine Research Center.

   4. Pleasure Beach water taxi - $1.9 million for the Pleasure Beach water taxi service to a beach that patrons could already reach by foot.

   5. Preschool Anger Management - $250,000 to implement the National Preschool Anger Management Project.

   6. Tattoo removal -- $200,000 for a tattoo removal violence prevention program in Mission Hills, California.

   7. Root weevil research - $350,000 for diaprepes/root weevil research in Florida.

   8. Hawaiian Sea Turtles - $250,000 for information collection and analysis on Hawaiian Sea Turtles.

   9. Bering Sea Crab - $1 million for Bering Sea Crab conservation projects in Alaska.

   10. Grasshopper research - $750,000 for grasshopper protection in Alaska.

   11. Bear DNA Research - $1 million to conduct studies into the DNA of Montana bears.

   12. Aquatic plants - $11,000,000 for the aquatic plant control program.

   13. Cowgirl Hall of Fame - $90,000 to the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas.

   14. Montana Sheep Institute - $254,000 to improve the profitability and competitiveness of the Montana Sheep Industry.

   15. Peanut Festival -  $202,500 for the National Peanut Festival Fairgrounds for construction of the National Peanut Festival Agriculture Arena in Donthan, Alabama.

   16. Poultry research - $172,000 to study the Georgia poultry industry.

PigSpender Region:

   1. Indoor Rain Forest - $50 million for an indoor rainforest project in Coralville, Iowa.

   2. Waterfree Urinal - $1 million to the Waterfree Urinal Conservation Initiative for the development of a waterless urinal.

   3. Screwworm research - $34 million to study the screwworm, even though the wily pest has already been eradicated from the United States.

   4. Combating Goth culture - $273,000 for the Blue Springs Youth Outreach Unit for educational training in combating Goth culture.

   5. Catfish health - $500,000 to maintain the health of catfish in Stoneville, Mississippi.

   6. National Wild Turkey Federation - $172,000 to conserve turkey habitats in Edgefield, South Carolina.

   7. Swine odor and manure management - $1.8 million to research the spread of swine odor and manure in Ames, Iowa.

   8. Shrimp aquaculture - $4.2 million to study sustainable shrimp aquaculture in Arizona, Hawaii, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas.

   9. Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery - $15 million for the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, which aims to “reverse the declines of Pacific salmon and steelhead” in Alaska, California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.

   10. Brown tree snakes - $663,000 for a program to eradicate brown tree snakes in Guam.

   11. Asparagus support - $94,000 to bolster America’s asparagus industry. 

   12. Lobster Institute - $188,000 to support research and education of the lobster industry in Maine.

   13. Onion research - $250,000 for Vidalia onion research in Georgia.

   14. Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum - $147,000 for construction of a museum documenting shipwrecks off the coast of North Carolina’s Outer Banks. 

   15. Wood utilization research - $4.8 million to study alternative ways to use wood in 10 states.

   16. Potato research - $1.4 million to study how to support America’s potato industry.