No, our government did not get leaner and more efficient in 2015

(BigGovernment.news) Just in case you wanted to believe that President Obama kept a 2012 promise to pursue a “leaner and more efficient government” as he ran for reelection, here’s a sad reminder to let you know that he didn’t.

Obama had help in his failure, however: Congress didn’t do much to accomplish that goal, either.

That’s according to the annual 2016 Congressional Pig Book from Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) that was released earlier this week in Washington, D.C., at an event that included a live pot-bellied pig to make the point.

“For the fourth time since Congress enacted an earmark moratorium in fiscal year (FY) 2011, CAGW has unearthed earmarks in appropriations bills,” the organization said. “The number of earmarks increased 17 percent between FY 2015 and FY 2016, from 105 to 123, and the total cost jumped by 21 percent, from $4.2 billion to $5.1 billion.

“While those figures are far below the record $29 billion 10 years ago in FY 2006, and there are no earmarks for screwworm research or teapot museums, the 2016 Congressional Pig Book reveals that earmarks are on the rise again, and this time with very little transparency,” CAGW said. “Since 1991, Congress has approved 110,442 earmarks costing taxpayers $323.1 billion.”

Much of that, no doubt, was deficit spending too, judging from the $19 trillion (and rising) national debt.

Here are some of the more egregious earmarks (which are mostly just perks offered to constituents to their voters, but are paid for by all taxpayers – the only truly bipartisan function in dysfunctional D.C.):

— $8 million was earmarked for the aquatic plant control program, and that is double the $4 million earmarked last year; this project has received 22 earmarks since 1994 totaling 38.1 million including three by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and one each by Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.).

— $56.6 million for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program (HIDTA) at the Office of National Drug Control Policy; this earmark – logically – was initially intended only for border states but has since been expanded to non-border state. Since FY 1997 earmarks for this program have cost taxpayers $269.8 million; 16 of those earmarks were directed to programs in 10 states, only two of which are on a border.

— In addition, Congress allocated another $40 million to upgrade the M1 Abrams main battle tank, despite the fact that the Pentagon repeatedly said they didn’t need upgrading. This has been going on for many years; though the main assembly plant is located in Lima, Ohio, suppliers are located all over the country, which helps explain this earmark’s wide congressional support.

— The East-West Center in Hawaii received a $5.9 million earmark.  The center is intended to promote better relations with Pacific and Asian nations.  The center was established by Congress in 1960 with no congressional hearings, and over the State Department’s opposition.  For years, the State Department tried to eliminate the center by not requesting funding in the department’s annual budget requests.  In a December 17, 2015 press release, Senate Appropriations Committee member Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) claimed credit for securing funding at a level $5.9 million above the Administration’s request.

And so on. Read the full report here.

Individually, these earmarks and the scores of others listed in this year’s Pig Book may seem insignificant and, individually they are. But the problem is there are billions of dollars’ worth of them every year, and what’s worse, the government goes into debt to fund them – all the while collecting a record amount of income tax from beleaguered wage earners.

“The 2016 Pig Book shows that earmarks are making an unwelcome comeback in Washington,” said CAGW President Tom Schatz. “At a time when some members of Congress from both sides of the aisle and both sides of the Capitol continue to call for a restoration of earmarks, other members have introduced legislation to make the earmark moratorium permanent.  The 2016 Pig Book shows once again that any earmark is a bad earmark.

“Taxpayers should deliver a loud and clear message that it is time for earmarks to be banned, once and for all,” he added.

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