Senators Trade Troops Lives for Congressional Pork
Unscrupulous U.S. Senators have removed much needed funding from the 2010 defense appropriations bill and replaced it with 778 unrequested and unnecessary pork-barrel earmarks designed to buy votes for their reelection campaigns. The earmarks add nearly $2.7B to the bill.
The senators have removed funds which the defense department needs for operations and maintenance — including troop training. Training is what keeps our sons and daughters alive in the field. The Senators removed these priority items and replaced them with frivolous earmarks like these:
- $20M for an institute to honor Senator Edward Kennedy
- $25M for a WWII museum in New Orleans
This unconscionable theft from our service members is being opposed by these organizations:
- The Center for Defense Information
- National Taxpayers Union
- Project on Government Oversight
- Taxpayers for Common Sense
For more in-depth information on the technical aspects of these changes, read Support Our Troops: The Senate Porkers’ Approach by Winslow Wheeler at the Center for Defense Information. For good data on how these Senators are using pork-barrel projects to squeeze campaign donations out of government contractors, read Senators Deliver Earmark Cash for Campaign Contributors. You can also read the actual letter these organizations sent to Defense Secretary Gates here.
