WASHINGTON – The grassroots free-market group Americans for Prosperity (AFP) today released a list of Senate earmarks slated to be included in the Fiscal Year 2008 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill. The 1,016 earmarks total nearly $392 million, and include millions for questionable projects such as $1 million in tax dollars for a museum dedicated to recreating the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival experience and $250,000 to help fund the Polynesian Voyaging Society, which makes and sails ancient canoes from Hawaii to Japan.
“Our grassroots activists encourage lawmakers to reject the ‘you support my earmark, I’ll support your earmark’ status quo by standing up against pork-barrel earmarks contained in this legislation,” said AFP President Tim Phillips. “Many of the earmarks contained in this bill are a waste of tax dollars, fall outside of the responsibility of the federal government, or circumvent the competitive grant-making process.”
AFP compiled the earmarks scattered throughout the Senate Appropriations Committee Report 110-107 into a convenient, searchable Microsoft Excel format. Earmarks can be sorted by Senator, state, or amount.
Highlights of the earmark list include:
$1 million for the Museum at Bethel Woods, which is dedicated to recreating the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival experience and will feature “An interpretation of the 1969 Woodstock Music & Arts Fair” exhibit in 2008, according to the museum’s website. The earmark is at the request of New York Senators Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer. $250,000 for the Polynesian Voyaging Society, which includes among its programs making and sailing ancient canoes from Hawaii to Japan. The earmark is requested by Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii. $100,000 for “Lighten Up Iowa,” an online program encouraging people to lose weight while also preaching the benefits of vegan diets. The earmark is requested by Iowa Senator Tom Harkin. $500,000 for the New York Botanical Garden’s Virtual Herbarium, a project to scan images of herbs and post them online. The earmark is requested by New York Senators Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer. $100,000 to fund the celebration of Lake Champlain’s 400th Anniversary – an event that doesn’t take place until 2009. The earmark is at the request of Vermont Senator Pat Leahy.
The single largest earmark contained in the report is $11 million for the University of Alabama for “construction, renovation, and equipment.” Many universities, including a number of private universities with huge endowments, are slated to receive tax dollars.
Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is a nationwide organization of citizen leaders committed to advancing every individual’s right to economic freedom and opportunity. For more information, visit www.americansforprosperity.org
