The House of Reprehensibles

Here's a peek at some of the pork barrel spending the House has tucked into the bill to fund the military for Iraq and Afghanistan (from Mark Tapscott). If you can explain what this has to do with fighting a war, I'd love to hear it!

Some of the items being unnearthed are the sort that make defenders of the U.S. military (and yes, I proudly count myself among the defenders of these brave men and women) cringe because they undercut the credibility of the war effort.

In fact, however, those who should be cringing are the spending-crazy politicos in Congress stuffing every available appropriation with goodies for friends, donors, neighbors, family members, favored constituents, etc. etc. Here are just some of the latest examples:

Peanut Storage (pg. 115): $74 million
Additional Salaries for the House of Representatives (pg. 51): $6.4 million
Live Fish Transport Across the Canadian Border (pg. 116): $5 million
FDA Office of Women’s Health (pg. 117): $4 million
Compensation to Spinach Growers (pg. 112): $25 million

This is disgusting. These men and women (of both parties) have failed their responsibility to our soldiers and our country--but they're quite happy to fund their cronies...and themselves.