Pork revealed in Congressional "Pig Book"

By: editor
4/3/2008 - 9:04am

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: In a pig's earmark. (AP photo)

Colorado's congressional delegation is on a pork diet, according to annual Pig Book earmark rankings released Wednesday by Citizens Against Government Waste. The nearly $95 million in earmarks brought home by state lawmakers in 2008 put the state at 47th - down from 21st in 2007 - on the group's "pork per capita" ranking, with an average of $19.34 for each of the state's roughly 4.86 million residents.

The group, which rails against what it sees as excessive government spending, singled out dozens of notable "pork" projects, including $492,000 set aside in the FY 2008 Energy and Water Appropriations Act by Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., for the Rocky Flats Cold War Museum.

"The intention of this proposed museum is to highlight the role of Rocky Flats in manufacturing nuclear weapons during the ColdWar. After production at Rocky Flats ended in 1992, it was discovered that the area suffered from environmental contamination associated with nuclear weapons. After a period of remediation, the idea is to create a museum on an adjacent piece of land.

According to its website, the Rocky Flats ColdWar Museum will include artifacts such as “glove boxes, storage containers, photographs, building diagrams, respirators and protective suits, radiation measuring instruments, hand scanners, gloves, signs and the Tepee from anti-nuclear demonstrations, and a security station.”

Individual rankings based on earmarks included in FY 2008 appropriations:

RANK NAME No. of Projects Total (in millions)

HOUSE

158. Udall, Mark 24 $27.6

163. Musgrave 29 $26.6

164. Salazar, John 21 $26.3 (Tied among 2)

193 Perlmutter 19 $22.8 (Tied among 2)

227. DeGette 14 $18.9

243. Tancredo 10 $17.6 (Tied among 4)

248. Lamborn 8 $17.2 (Tied among 5)

SENATE

67. Salazar 112 $111.9