By Ray Cardello for May 7, 2021. Season 1 / Post 111

With most of America being shut down for over a year and still anywhere from 7 to 10 million Americans out of work, the Liberals have put together a wish list of pet projects for their home districts. A $6 Billion collection of wasteful spending while Americans are wearing masks, still not visiting family, not going to school, not going to Church, not knowing when we can say we are back to normal, but Democrats are slapping us in the face by wasting our money to benefit their future. It is pathetic. That is not nearly as strong a word as I would like to use but I am keeping it clean.

Here is a list of the top 15 of the over 50 Pork offerings on the Congressional Menu. The Republicans are not innocent in this spending folly, as you can see on the list.

1. $7,110,080 for the City of Cottage Grove Shoppes (Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn.)
2. $3,850,000 for a park that includes “wellness programming and recreational opportunities” (Rep. Sanford Bishop Jr., D-Ga.)
3. $3,750,000 for the Waukegan Carnegie Museum Revitalization Project in Illinois (Rep. Bradley Schneider, D-Ill.)
4. $3,000,000 for a smartphone app to track bus locations (Rep. Blake Moore, R-Utah)
5. $2,500,000 for a combined climate-change management infrastructure and open community arts space (Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass.)
6. $2,250,000 to convert a former commercial pier into a safe, multi-use green space for the residents of densely populated West New York (Rep. Albio Sires, D-N.J.)
7. $2,000,000 for a Pickleball and Fitness Circuit in a high-density community in Orange, California (Rep. J. Luis Correa, D-Calif.)
8. $2,000,000 for the Arts of Africa Collections at the Brooklyn Museum (Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y.)
9. $1,800,000 for LGBTQ affirming professional medical care in Virginia (Rep. Robert Scott, D-Va.)
10. $1,750,000 to upgrade a YMCA, with new facilities including a “wellness center,” in Michigan (Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Mich.)
11. $1,750,000 for the “Japan Institute Building Renovation Project, Portland Japanese Garden” in Oregon (Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore.)
12. $1,700,000 for additional barbeque areas and picnic areas, an exercise area, and an amphitheater in Guadelupe, California (Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Calif.)
13. $1,500,000 to complete free public Wi-Fi to the remaining 18 parks and park facilities in a California city (Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif.)
14. $1,100,000 for a Center for Child and Human Development, including social policy research around race, age and social class (Rep. Donald Payne Jr., D-N.J.)
15. $1,060,000 to construct “The Vison” Community Statue Project in Texas (Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas)

This charade is staggering. With the country still in Recovery Mode, why couldn’t Congress put a moratorium on absurd projects? They cannot. It is a disease for most who put their hand on the Bible to enter the Congressional Club of Elites. They may have their hand on top going in, but very quickly, it flips over to pan for more money and more power.
I chose the image for this post because these earmarks are so similar to the Infrastructure Bill that is now in Congress. You can give a Bill any name you want, for it is meaningless. As we found with the Infrastructure Bill, anything you want could be connected to what used to be roads, bridges, air and rail travel. Everything loses its identity and sense of reality. It is all about spending our money to stroke special interests to ensure that people in Congress stay in Congress. It is all a game. It is a game that has just one rule; spend until someone stands up and says no more. We are saying no more, and it is our money. The Government has no money. They are printing it faster than anyone can spend it, even Congress. But even that is harmful, for every dollar printed, makes the one in your pocket worth less. As I said, it is a no-win game for us, but 2022 is coming quickly. We can then change the rules and make it our game.