Disgusting, even on this they can't put through something clean. Gotta get that political pork in there.
Well since its there, everyone seems to forget that this is to upgrade a lock on an Ohio River project. The two states it straddles are represented by two of the Senate's most powerful members: the Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, and No. 2 Democratic leader, Richard Durbin of Illinois. Both states benefit from it.
HuffPo adds this
While the earmark is a great deal for McConnell, the funding request reportedly came from President Barack Obama. A McConnell spokesman told The Wall Street Journal that the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the funding earlier this year and that the request came from the White House.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/1...n_4111387.html
As does the Washington Post
But as our David Fahrenthold reports, the funding was actually requested by President Obama and, according to congressional sources from both parties, wasn’t a McConnell project:
The provision does not allocate $2 billion; rather, it raises the cap for the amount Congress could allocate later. President Obama asked for it in his 2014 budget, and both the House and the Senate had passed bills allowing the increase this year. The House did criticize the Corps of Engineers, saying if it had managed the project better there would not be the need for the “massive increase” in funding authority.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...1-bc7ae85af94f
A few other tidbits of pork in there
The family of Sen. Frank Lautenberg, who passed away in June, was guaranteed a $174,000 death gratuity, the equivalent of a year's salary. Roll Call listed the senator among Congress' 50 richest members in 2012.
Colorado was pledged $450 million for rebuilding after floods that hit the Rocky Mountain foothills in September. The measure would lift the usual $100 million limit on Federal Highway Administration emergency highway aid to $450 million for the state.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101121465
Lets the Defense Department continue assisting African forces pursue Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, a rebel group accused of atrocities.
Provides extra money for contracts with private companies whose ships move American troops and their equipment overseas.
Supplies $600 million for Forest Service firefighting and $36 million for Interior Department firefighting.
http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/...news?p=2&tc=pg