Prince of Pork, Rogers (R,KY) will head the House Appropriations Comm.

[JCMach1]

... Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Kentucky, won the recommendation of the steering committee to take over the Appropriations Committee. Rogers, known as the Prince of Pork, beat out rivals Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Georgia, and Jerry Lewis, R-California.

Rogers, who was just reelected to his 16th term, is known for funneling taxpayer money for pet projects in his district. Over the past two years, Rogers has pushed through 135 earmarks at a cost of $246 million... http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2010/12/prince-of-pork-poised-to-chair-appropriations-committee.html

Roger's has brought so much federal money to his hometown (Somerset, Kentucky; population 11,000) that it is known as Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. There's a $52 million National Center for Hometown Security. The tiny airport that received $17 million in federal dollars but has so little traffic that the last commercial airline pulled out in February. And then there's the Hal Rogers Parkway, which was formerly known as the Daniel Boone Parkway before being renaming for Kentucky's Prince of Pork.

Most recently, Rogers pushed through a $5 million dollar measure this year for conservation groups that work with endangered wild cats. It just so happens that one of the few groups eligible is the Namibia-based Cheetah Conservation Fund. Who works for them? The Congressman's daughter... http://www.worldnewsmania.com/2010/12/08/politics/hal-rogers-prince-of-pork-to-be-appointed-gop-chairman-of-house-appropriations-committee/

Rogers secured 137 earmarks worth $251.9 million between 2008 and 2010, according to LegisStorm, a nonpartisan congressional watchdog group. That ranked him 99th among Senate and House members with earmarks... http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20101207/NEWS01/312070089/-1/COMICS/Rogers+gets+House+s+most+powerful+committee+post

Leading the committee toward a belt-tightening mandate would also mean taking on an entire industry that has been built up around the federal trough, a complex of lobbyists, consultants and corporations that feeds off the competition for dollars and with some regularity produces scandals -- and provides a substantial chunk of the campaign contributions that fuel the American political system.

"It has been a favor factory for years, and now it is going to become a slaughterhouse," said Representative Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican and longtime antagonist of the Appropriations Committee who on Monday was endorsed by Mr. Boehner to be one of several antispending conservatives to be seated on the panel. "It is going to get ugly."... http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/07/us/politics/07approps.html?partner=rss&emc=rss


Should we have expected any less from the Republicans?

[Hannah Bell]

1. but wait, we have to cut back? they're such hypocrites. they need to be boiled in oil.

[JCMach1]

2. 100% agree