Congress spending billions anonymously

A spokeswoman for an organization that highlights "pork" project funding by members of the U.S. Congress says there have been changes in Washington in recent weeks and months – lawmakers are leaving their names off of the projects they want.

"After we started going through it we started seeing a lot of anonymous earmarks, $7.8 billion in total," said Leslie Paige of Citizens Against Government Waste. "Most were in the defense appropriations bill, with no name attached. In a lot of cases they don't even have a state identified [for where the money is going]."

Her comments came in an interview with Greg Corombos of Radio America/WND. The audio of the interview has been embedded here:

The organization "honored" a number of projects, including the plan by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, to spend $1.8 million for "swine odor and manure management research." The "Narcissist Award" went to Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., for $2 million for the Pat Roberts Intelligence Scholars Program. Another spending program highlighted was by Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., who is spending $200,000 for tattoo removal.

The "Dim Bulb Award" went to Michigan Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, both Democrats, and Rep. Carolyn Kirkpatrick, another Democrat, for $951.500 for street lamps in Detroit.

Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., led the way with $653 million in pork, the organization said.

The report said this year's "Pig Book" cites 10,160 projects costing $19.6 billion, up from $17.2 billion from a year ago.

Among other spending plans: $3.8 million for the Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy in Detroit; $1.9 million for the Pleasure Beach water taxi service in Connecticut; and $95,000 for the Canton Symphony Orchestra Association in Ohio.

"Regardless of what you think you've heard about pork projects, they are not in any way reducing," Paige said.

"I think what's being promoted and promulgated in the media and by members of the leadership of this House and Senate are telling everybody is just not true," she said.

Special offers:

Bailout Nation (Hardcover)

Crash Proof: How to Profit From the Coming Economic Collapse (Book)

Hope of the Wicked: Master Plan to Rule the World (book)

Welcome to Obamaland: I Have Seen Your Future and It Doesn't Work (Book)