I think you can make a silk purse out of a sow's ear

What is especially outrageous about this Republican immoderation is how much of it is devoted to pure pork -- local projects that have no national significance or constitutional justification. As recently as five years ago, there were fewer than 2,000 pork projects, or "earmarks," in the federal budget. In 2003, there were more than 9,300, and the number will be even higher in 2004. The pork-packed omnibus appropriations bill now making its way through Congress contains hundreds of earmarks, including:

$1.8 million for the Women's World Cup tournament;

$325,000 for the construction of a swimming pool in Salinas, Calif.;

$220,000 for the New Mexico Retail Association in Albuquerque;

$270,000 for "sustainable olive production";

$400,000 for the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Ky.;

$2 million for the First Tee golf program in St. Augustine, Fla.;

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Get a load of that last item. And it's location.

Here are some more items from MoveOn.org:

$50,000,000 to build an indoor rainforest in Iowa.

$338,000 for the Alabama Beef Connection.

$225,000 for the National Wild Turkey federation, a hunting concern.

$397,700,000 for prison buildings and facilities.

$30,000,000 for the Southwest Border Prosecutors Initiative.

$250,000 for the General Patton Museum of Cavalry & Armor, in Kentucky.

$225,000 for a shopping center in Adelanto, CA.

$500,000 for the "Exercise in Hard Choices" at the U. of Akron, which attempts to replicate House and Senate meetings in which congressional members review a budget, and vote to include or exclude various options.

Get a load of that last one. A congress copy. And a specific congressional duty - porking the taxpayers.

Now if that National Wild Turkey Federation were the bourbon makers, I might be more inclined to approve.

And dang, that's a lot of money for prisons.

White House for Sale has information on who's getting what for their contributions to BushCo.

If you've got a special project peeve that isn't getting attention, you can "Report Government Waste" at Taxpayers for Common Sense. Sorry, this is not a site to name offal like Cowboy Codpiece and his band of neo-convicts. Not that kind of waste.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.