'Porky' transportation bill draws ire of taxpayers

'Porky' transportation bill draws ire of taxpayers

A government watchdog group is outraged over earmarks inserted into a transportation bill that was overwhelmingly approved by the Senate.

President Bush has vowed to veto the transportation bill because of what he calls "an irresponsible and excessive level of spending." The measure contains $2.5 million in pork barrel projects, including $450,000 for the International Peace Garden in North Dakota, and $500,000 for a minor league baseball stadium in Montana. Bill Allison, a senior fellow at the Sunlight Foundation, says choosing pork projects over serious infrastructure needs is a "real abdication of responsibility."

According to Allieson, members of Congress see earmarks as a way of taking care of their district's needs. "… I can think of few things more important than keeping the roads safe and keeping bridges in good condition. And yet, what these earmarks show -- things like Las Vegas history museums, and baseball stadiums in Billings, Montana, and peace gardens in North Dakota -- is that members of Congress can't do that or that they can't be trusted to take care of what's most important," says Allison.

Allison argues this pork barrel spending shows a lack of responsibility in Congress in regards to the general welfare of the nation. "And I think that the real solution is, and let's hope it doesn't take another bridge collapse to get there, is for voters to let their displeasure be known and that's really done at the ballot box," he says.

The House version of the transportation bill is also filled with more than $2 million in earmarks, including funding for a mule and packers museum in California, and $250,000 for a bike trail in the Minnesota district of Transportation Committee Chairman James Oberstar. A new government audit shows that $8.5 billion worth of earmarks accounted for 13.5 percent of Transportation Department's spending last year.