Senators diverted $2.6 billion in funds in a defense spending bill to pet projects largely at the expense of accounts that pay for fuel, ammunition and training for U.S. troops, including those fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to an analysis.
Among the 778 such projects, known as earmarks, packed into the bill: $25 million for a new World War II museum at the University of New Orleans and $20 million to launch an educational institute named after the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat.
While earmarks are hardly new in Washington, "in 30 years on Capitol Hill, I never saw Congress mangle the defense budget as badly as this year," said Winslow Wheeler, a former Senate staffer who worked on defense funding and oversight for both Republicans and Democrats. He is now a senior fellow at the Center for Defense Information, an independent research organization.
Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican, called the transfer of funds from Pentagon operations and maintenance "a disgrace."
"The Senate is putting favorable headlines back home above our men and women fighting on the front lines," he said in a statement.
Hot Air points just just a few of the pet projects that Dems believe are more important than fuel, ammunition, and training for our troops:
- $20 million for a Maui Space Surveillance System – Senator Daniel Inouye. (Perhaps the Moon may counterattack soon!)
- $25 million for the Hawaii Federal Health Care Network – Inouye again. Hey, shouldn't that come from Health and Human Services rather than Defense?
- $20 million for Humvee maintenance – Sponsored by Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, this actually sounds like a war priority, until you find out that the Humvees in question are all in Maine.
They support the troops like a dog supports fleas.
There's my two cents.
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