Feeding the government pig

It's the most wonderful time of the year — and I don't mean Christmas. It's the time when Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) releases its annual "Congressional Pig Book Summary," exposing some of the most outrageous, ridiculous and in many cases unconstitutional spending one can imagine. I guarantee you won't be able to imagine most of it. Why should you when it's not their money they are spending and borrowing, which has driven the debt to unprecedented and dangerous levels. According to CAGW, the number of earmarks, which is spending that avoids going through the normal appropriations process, "totaled 140,826, costing $484 billion." Republicans used to be against earmarks before they became for them. After an 11-year moratorium, Republicans re-joined Democrats at the trough. For fun — and for quality and training purposes — let's just pick a few examples from the first section: "$9,650,000 for two earmarks for the Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center funding equipment and infrastructure modernization and facility repairs and improvements by Senate Appropriations Committee member John Boozman (R-Ark.). Sen. Boozman also added a $117,000 earmark for the center in FY 2023, bringing the two-year total to $9,767,000." Got that? To demonstrate bipartisanship and common ground in action there is this: "$1,900,000 for the University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc. for a veterinary diagnostic laboratory pathological waste incinerator by Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee member Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) and Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.). Ossoff is up for re-election. I seriously doubt his Republican opponent will raise the issue. As a theater buff, you might think I would like this one: "$1,753,000 for two earmarks funding theaters: $1,588,000 for renovations at the Eugene O'Neill Memorial Theater Center by Senate Appropriations Committee member Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and $165,000 for facility improvements at the Shea Theater Arts Center, Inc. in Turners Falls (pop. 4,510) by Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.)." Not so. Let theater survive on ticket sales and local support. Moving forward (or in this case backward, if you care about the financial health of the country), I especially love this one: "$300,000 for Texas A&M University for the Feral Hog Community Cooperative Management Program." Nothing says pork more than feral hogs. It's chump change to be sure, but as the saying goes it eventually adds up to real money. This one sounds fishy: "$11,917,000 for nine earmarks supporting fishing industries, including $2,000,000 for an Alaskan seafood modernization initiative at the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation by Senate CJS Appropriations Subcommittee member Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska); $1,875,000 for the Fishing for the Future program at the Coonamessett Farm Foundation by Sens. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.); and $1,000,000 for a Mississippi oyster restoration and workforce program at the Mississippi Wildlife Fisheries Parks Marine Foundation by Senate Appropriations Committee member Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) and Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.). According to NOAA, the U.S. fishing industry produced $319 billion in commercial and recreational sales in 2023. It can go fish and get by without the support of earmarks." Go fish. White House Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett predicts economic growth of 6 percent this year, triple what mainstream economic forecasters have forecast. Relying solely on economic growth to reduce the debt and continue prosperity is a recipe for disaster. Remember recessions of the not-too-distant past? If not, ask someone who does. None of this will stop until big government is forced to go on a diet. That won't happen until we the people decide we are no longer entitled to other people's money. Read the entire Pig Book report at CAGW.org and weep if you have any sense of personal responsibility and accountability. Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com.