Take a look at this miniscule* sample of Pork Barrel spending initiatives:

Representative Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) $211,509 in olive fruit fly research in Paris, France.

Representative Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) $1,950,000 for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service.

Montana Senators Max Baucaus (D) and Jon Tester (D) $148,950 for the Montana Sheep Institute.

Representative Ann Esshoo (D-Calif.) $1.6 million for the Allen Telescope Array.

Senator Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) $344,540 for the city of Chicago GreenStreets Tree Planting Program.

Maine Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe (R), and Rep. Thomas Allen (D-Maine) for $188,000 for the Lobster Institute.

Representative Virgil Goode (R-Va.) for $98,000 to develop a walking tour of Boydton, Virginia.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) for $196,000 for the renovation and transformation of the historic downtown Post Office in Las Vegas.

Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) $7,875,200 for Hunter’s Point Naval Shipyard cleanup.  According to a January 12, 2007 article in the San Francisco Chronicle, Hunter’s Point may be an option for a new football stadium: “Feinstein has also been involved in renewed stadium talks between the 49ers and Mayor Gavin Newsom’s administration, which recently offered an alternative stadium site at the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard.”

Interior Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Larry Craig (R-Idaho) $984,400 for Idaho’s strategic plan for managing noxious weeds; $295,320 for the Chesterfield Schoolhouse; and $196,880 for the Wilson Theatre in Rupert

House appropriator John Olver (D-Mass.) $1,470,000 for downtown streetscape in Pittsfield

House THUD Appropriations Subcommittee member Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.) $490,000 for construction and buildout of the Los Angeles County Fire Museum in Bellflower.

And these are the people we expect to spend the bailout funds wisely, to use those taxes to bolster our failing economy?

Heaven help us all.

* 11,610 projects at a cost of $17.2 billion

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