The 2,700-page, $1.5 Trillion Omnibus Spending Bill was presented by congressional leaders this week. They made sure to feast on plenty of pork when they did so.
After high-profile corruption cases were exposed, conservatives banned such so-called “earmarks” a decade ago. Members of Congress were then informed. lobbyists to prison, and after clear examples of waste were uncovered, such as the infamous “bridge to nowhere.”
Unfortunately, earmarks are making a big return in President Joe Biden’s first appropriations package.
Hidden in the Explanatory StatementsSpecial interest funding provisions of thousands of dollars are included with the legislation. They were requested by Members of Congress. A listThe bill itself is 367 pages long due to all the earmarks.
Some of these earmarks, it is not surprising, advance leftist woke ideology.
Here are six examples:
Racist Energy Systems
Massachusetts Sens. Massachusetts Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey secured $995,000 for “Grid Resilience and Equity in the Energy Transition” research at the University of Massachusetts. Notice the word “equity” in the title. That means the left will redistribute taxpayer money to fix perceived racism in energy system.
This funding from the taxpayer will be used. promote a “fast and fair transition to a decarbonized energy system in the United States” by the Energy Transition Institute and a local utility company. The institute’s faculty director stated, “The current energy system is inequitable, not just overseas but here in the U.S. The energy system is racist.”
Political Museums
Ohio Senator Sherrod brown secured $500,000 for this event National Underground Railroad Freedom CenterThe Underground Railroad Museum is a Cincinnati museum that tells the story of the Underground Railroad and the journey from slavery to freedom. This history is crucial to understanding our past, so that we can create the future that we desire.
Unfortunately, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center continues its involvement in modern left-wing politics. The center has lobbiedH.R. 4 The John Lewis Voting Rights Act. This would give federal bureaucrats unelected the power to veto state elections laws, overriding the decisions of voters and legislators.
The center also lobbies against legislation that would ban the teaching of the racist and divisive tenets of critical race theory to grade schoolers in Ohio, calling systemic racism a “foundation of our nation since 1619.”
Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Equity Center
The Hockessin Colored School #107 played an important role in the Brown v. Board of Education case which ended segregation in schools. More than 60 years later, the school is still open. The Friends of Hockessin Colored School #107, Inc.At the request of Delaware Sens, they received $750,000 in federal taxpayer money. Chris Coons and Tom Carper to transform the property into a center for “diversity, inclusion, and social equity.”
According to the group, the center would be used to host DEI workshops on controversial topics such as “ethnicities,” “gender identity and genetics,” “public safety and social justice,” and “social determinants of health.”
Health Equity for Pool Improvements
New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman was able to get $496,000 in the name of “health equity” for “pool improvements” in his home district. According to Bowman, these are “essential capital improvements” to YMCA pools. He cited evidence proving that African Americans, Hispanic children are less able to swim than other group.
Bowman does not justify on his website why $496,000 is needed for just the YMCA of Yonkers but instead simply justifies this spending by saying, “This project is essential for minimizing disparities in access to swimming lessons and aerobics, promoting health equity.”
Climate Studies Diversity
Massachusetts’ Markey and Warren were also able to combine two left-wing priorities into their $500,000 earmark for Worcester State University to increase diversity and inclusion for STEM students to study climate change. According to to Warren, “This project would increase access and success for under-represented incoming college students.”
Equitable Shellfish Aquaculture
Rhode Island Senators. Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed requested $1.6 million of federal taxpayer funding for Roger Williams University for the “development of equitable growth of shellfish aquaculture in Rhode Island.”
It is not clear why Rhode Island’s shellfish aquaculture needs to be woken. The final Omnibus actually contains more than three times the amount. originally sponsoredWhitehouse
All of these earmarks were airdropped into the final spending bill with little transparency and without thorough vetting.
These earmarks do not have any connection to the proper, limited functions of the federal government as outlined in the Constitution. This is yet another example of special interest spending on local projects. is in no way a valid tool for promoting Congress’s important Article I power of the purse.
Instead of spending money on this expensive bill, fill it with pork projects Congress should reinstateThe earmark ban and the focus on how the government spends its money to fund the constitutional needs for the country. It also cuts wasteful and unnecessary spending, allowing Americans to keep more income.
Joshua Loucks, Young Leaders Program, provided research assistance for this article.
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