Category: Spring 2008 Newswire
Sununu Backs Tax Credits for Renewable-Energy Use
ENERGY
Union Leader
Matt Negrin
Boston University Washington News Service
3 April 2008
WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. John Sununu on Thursday threw his support behind a bipartisan bill aimed at encouraging the use of renewable and efficient energy sources by offering billions of dollars in tax incentives.
The bill’s sponsors also agreed to accept a Sununu provision that would give a 10 percent tax credit for the purchase of wood-pellet stoves — heaters that burn more efficiently than gas stoves and are becoming increasingly popular in New Hampshire. Sununu had advocated the tax break in previous legislation.
The bill, sponsored by Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and John Ensign, R-Nev., also would extend the existing tax credit for renewable electricity generated from alternate sources, including solar, wind and biomass. At a Senate press conference, Cantwell said the bill would cost $6 billion over 10 years.
“The bill makes good sense for New Hampshire, where our wood, biomass and wood- pellet industries here have provided jobs across the state,” said Sununu, who added himself as a co-sponsor of the legislation, which he called “commonsense.”
The Granite State needs the incentives for the wood pellets, Sununu said, because it cannot benefit as much from other energy sources as other states do, such as western states that make ample use of wind energy.
Wood pellets, a form of biomass, are a dense fuel made from sawdust that can be efficiently combusted because of their uniform size and shape. They have gained popularity in Europe, which burns 8 million tons of pellets a year, because they are seen as a practical way of limiting the effects of climate change.
The provision for the wood-pellet stoves was praised by Steve Walker, president of New England Wood Pellet in Jaffrey, who said he is “grateful for Sen. Sununu’s dogged determination in securing a modest tax credit provision for high-efficiency, clean-burning biomass heating appliances,” according to a release from the senator’s office.
Many senators said the legislation is necessary to move the United States off of its dependence on foreign energy sources. If it is passed, an existing deadline would be extended through 2009 for taxpayers to claim credits for using renewable and clean energy sources, which also include geothermal, small irrigation power, landfill gas, trash combustion and hydropower.
What makes the legislation somewhat unusual is its support from both parties; six Democrats and 14 Republicans have added their names to it. Cantwell and Ensign, flanked by a handful of senators from both parties on Thursday, praised the support and said it represents an overdue cause.
“The legislation provides an opportunity for Democrats and Republicans to work together
and enact legislation to further extend incentives for individuals, families and businesses to use renewable energy sources,” Sununu said.
#####
Senators Examine Bear Stearns Intervention as Reason for Reform
BANKING
New London Day and Norwalk Hour
Erin Kutz
Boston University Washington News Service
April 3, 2008
WASHINGTON --The federal intervention in fronting $30 billion to save nearly bankrupt investment bank Bear Stearns was defended on Capitol Hill Thursday by administration officials, but senators wanted to know how things went so wrong and what they indicate for reforms in financial oversight and regulation.
The federal action toward Bear Stearns has previously drawn criticism as representing willingness to help the most powerful with little assistance to Americans in foreclosure, a point not ignored in the hearing.
But committee members revealed a deeper complexity to the issue, with some expressing concern that the decision doesn’t merely represent a divide between the weak and the strong but offers evidence as well about financial regulatory inadequacies that could allow a market to be so weak that the collapse of one institution would have such a sweeping effect.
“How do we let the system become so fragile that it cannot tolerate one failure?” asked Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) at a hearing of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. He called the rescue of Bear Stearns an act of socialism.
Robert Steel, the undersecretary of the treasury for domestic finance, defended the Bear Stearns rescue as a buffer to catastrophe in the broader economy, saying that a plunge in credit would affect average Americans in addition to Wall Street giants.
“When our financial system is under stress, all Americans bear the consequences,” he said.
Committee chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) indicated support for the federal intervention but questioned whether it could have been done sooner.
“As a bottom-line consideration I believe this was the right decision considering everything that was on the table,” he said. “I don’t question that ultimate decision, but I think it’s important we look at the rationale leading up to it.”
Dodd and other committee members challenged the time taken before the government stepped in and whether it was known earlier that Bear Stearns was in such grave danger.
Bear Stearns CEO Alan Schwartz said the firm did not appear to be at a significant risk until the public lost confidence in it at the beginning of the week of March 10 because of rumors swirling about amidst the credit crisis.
“Because of the rumors and conjecture, customers, counterparties and lenders began exercising caution in their dealings with us—and during the latter part of the week outright refused to do business with Bear Stearns,” Schwartz said.
“I want to emphasize that the impetus for the run on Bear Stearns was in the first instance the result of a lack of confidence, not a lack of capital or liquidity,” he added.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) pointed to the Bear Stearns crisis as indicative of the inability of the Securities Exchange Commission and the Federal Reserve to properly oversee financial markets.
“Was someone asleep at the switch or is it that our regulatory structure doesn’t work?” Schumer asked.
Sen. Robert Bennett (R-Utah) expressed concern that lawyers for other financial institutions would jump on the Bear Stearns rescue and argue that their clients require the same solution in the face of turmoil.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke rejected the description of the Bear Stearns intervention as a bailout, saying, “It’s not a situation a firm would choose to endure.”
The near-collapse of Bear Stearns attested to the gravity of the economy’s problems, said Timothy Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, noting that in a healthier overall market, the government would be likelier to let the investment bank’s problems resolve themselves.
Dodd pointed to the epidemic of sub-prime lending as the source of the problem and urged action to prevent another Bear Stearns situation. He said Congress is in for a long road in developing solutions, and not merely to prevent a catastrophe on Wall Street. Solutions to the housing problems must be found, he said, because most Americans don’t rely on investing in stocks but in the equity from their homes that they hope to use as safety net for the rest of their lives.
This week the committee acted swiftly to develop housing stimulus legislation that would provide money to communities with high rates of foreclosure, increase counseling for homeowners at risk and provide tax incentives for those who purchase homes on the brink of foreclosure.
###
Trading “Pork” for Lobsters in Maine
Lobsters
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
4/3/2008
WASHINGTON – Some of Maine’s leaders were accused this week of trading “pork” for lobsters by Citizens Against Government Waste, a non-partisan watchdog group that monitors government pork-barrel spending.
The group released its 2008 Pig Book Wednesday, listing government pork projects and gave one of its “Oinker Awards” to Maine’s Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe and Democratic Rep. Tom Allen. They received the Taxpayers Get Steamed Award for $188,000 that was given to the Lobster Institute, a research and education program at the University of Maine.
One of the institute’s projects, the lobster cam, is a small underwater video camera attached to a lobster trap,
“If we’re going to fund a lobster cam at a time when we’re at war, we’re not making good decisions, said Sen. Jim DeMint, R- S.C., at a press conference. Appearing with DeMint were a guy in a pink pig suit, five other members of Congress, Tom Schatz, the president of the watchdog group, and two live pigs, Winnie and Dudley, who munched on treats.
The Pig Book defines pork as spending that meets at least one of seven criteria: requested by only one chamber of Congress; not specifically authorized; not competitively awarded; not requested by the president; greatly exceeds the president's budget request; not the subject of congressional hearings; and serves only a local or special interest.
This definition encompasses spending earmarks, the practice of designating money for local or special-interest projects.
The Lobster Institute earmark went to fund lobster health research, which is vital to the lobster industry, said Robert Bayer, head of the Lobster Institute.
“Lobsters get sick just like any other animal and sometimes what they get sick from kills them,” Bayer said. “Some of these health issues are from pollutants that come from us. We want to know what those health issues are and how we can mitigate them.”
Bayer stressed that while people can’t be harmed by these lobster health issues, determining what makes lobsters sick should result in more lobsters to eat.
“It’s not trivial. It’s about the survival of the industry,” Bayer said, noting that people eat Maine lobsters all over the country and even in Canada and that “one of the reasons people come to Maine is to see the quaint lobster villages and eat lobster.”
There are more than 5,800 lobstermen in Maine, and Maine supplied 70 percent of the country’s lobsters in 2006, according to the office of Rep. Mike Michaud, D-Maine.
The institute is funded mostly by those affected every day by the lobster industry: lobster associations, fishermen and their friends. It relies on sponsors and endowments so that it will not need to rely on the federal government, Bayer said.
“While I did not in fact make this specific request…the Lobster Institute at the University of Maine seeks to enhance our understanding of the impact of the environment on this vital resource as well as on food safety,” Snowe said. “These objectives, which the appropriation would support, are important given there’s no question our lobster industry is vital to the economy of Maine.”
Congress spent more than $17 billion on pork projects this year, according to the watchdog group. Maine received less of this money on a per capita basis than most states, dropping from 28th in 2006 to 41st this year on a state ranking list. Projects in Maine received more than $29.5 million on pork-barrel projects, the group said.
The Maine members of Congress said pork spending can get out of control but many of the projects are important.
“I will continue to fight against government waste, and to make sure that our tax dollars are spent wisely,” Michaud said. “At the same time, I will also continue to advocate for appropriate federal investments in high-priority needs in Maine.”
Snowe and Collins released a list of their requested earmarks last year to maintain an open process, a spokesperson for Collins said. Michaud and Allen did not.
“Sponsors of earmarks should make their requests public, as Sen. Snowe and I have done,” Collins said. But “when subjected to thorough scrutiny and transparency, earmarks can be an appropriate exercise of Congress’ constitutional budget authority.”
Allen does not disclose all of the earmarks he requests.
“Publishing information about requests that are not funded could undermine the constituent's efforts to secure funding from other sources,” a spokesperson for Allen said.
Allen does display all earmarks he has secured on his Web site.
###
Sununu Introduces Tax Credit for Purchase of Energy Friendly Wood Pellet Stoves
WOOD
Keene Sentinel
Kenna Caprio
Boston University Washington News Service
April 3, 2008
WASHINGTON— In an effort to stimulate both the local and national economy and encourage cleaner energy sources, Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.) has developed an initiative that provides an income tax credit for the purchase of energy-efficient wood pellet stoves.
Sununu on Thursday joined Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and John Ensign (R-Nev.) in introducing the bipartisan Clean Energy Tax Stimulus Act of 2008.
A main initiative of the act is to extend the clean energy tax credits already existing under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which pertains to solar, wind, and hydropower resources. The other is to extend and include additional energy-efficient appliances in the energy efficiency tax credit.
Sununu’s provision adds wood pellet stoves to the energy-efficient group.
“In New Hampshire the sun doesn’t shine as much [as states where solar and wind power are prominent], but it has a great history of sustainable forestry,” Sununu said
Wood pellet stoves provide cleaner energy than other heat resources because wood pellets are usually made of recycled sawdust, bark and agricultural wastes
“In particular, we are grateful for Sen. Sununu’s dogged determination in securing a modest tax credit provision for high-efficiency, clean-burning biomass heating appliances,” Steve Walker, president and CEO of New England Wood Pellet in Jaffrey, said in a press release. “With oil heating costs going through the roof, this measure should help struggling New Hampshire families make the switch to locally produced biomass fuels such as wood pellets to heat their homes.”
The act also places emphasis on stimulating the economy because of the current price of oil and the economic struggle Americans are currently facing.
“Rising energy prices place enormous financial pressure on families and business across New Hampshire and the nation,” Sununu said in a press release. “These renewable energy tax credits help lower this burden and represent smart policy for our environment. Most important, the bill makes good sense for New Hampshire, where our wood, biomass and wood pellet industries here have provided jobs across the state.”
####
Congress’s Pork Spending Revealed in Pig Book
PORK
Union Leader
Matt Negrin
Boston University Washington News Service
2 April 2008
WASHINGTON — New Hampshire’s lawmakers brought home the bacon — or pork — last year, sending millions of dollars to the Granite State as Congress continued to use taxpayer money to fund 11,610 pet projects, a watchdog group announced Wednesday.
Congress spent $17.2 billion on pork, a 30 percent increase from last year, according to the Citizens Against Government Waste, which unveiled its annual “Pig Book” detailing the biggest ventures of the 2008 fiscal year.
Tom Schatz, president of the citizens group, said this year the good news is that most of the bills have more information about the projects and the names of members who sponsored them. Yet 464 undisclosed projects still totaled $3.4 billion, he said.
Schatz and six Republicans (and a person in a bright-pink pig suit) who flanked him at a press conference all called for more transparency in the earmark process. “Legislation may not make this happen as soon as shame and embarrassment,” said Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C.
The Pig Book defines pork as spending that meets at least one of seven criteria: requested by only one chamber of Congress; not specifically authorized; not competitively awarded; not requested by the president; greatly exceeds the president’s budget request; not the subject of congressional hearings; and serves only a local or special interest.
For New Hampshire, Republican Sen. Judd Gregg was the biggest porker with $93.8 million for 63 projects. Gregg, the senior minority member of the Budget Committee, joined 70 senators last month in rejecting a resolution, proposed by DeMint, that would have prohibited earmarked spending for a year.
“Earmarks for New Hampshire that I have supported have consistently fallen within the terms and requirements of strict budgetary discipline,” Gregg said in a statement to the Union Leader, touting his efforts to fund university research and conserve wetlands and forests. “I have worked hard to keep taxpayers informed about where their dollars are being spent, which is why I am committed to full transparency in the earmark process.”
The state’s other Republican senator, John Sununu, secured $69.4 million in 36 projects, including some for improving information technology at hospitals and providing housing for homeless veterans in Manchester and Nashua. Sununu, the newest member of the Finance Committee, voted with 28 senators in favor of the nonbinding resolution.
“We should have rules that prevent items from being inserted … at the last minute,” Sununu said in an interview. “Requests should be made early, vetted through the process and go through bills on either the House or Senate side.”
In per capita spending, New Hampshire placed near the middle at 28th, a significant drop from its 11th-place spot last year. The book totals the state’s pork at $42 million, but that figure does not include multiple-state and some other projects.
New Hampshire’s freshman House members — Democrats Paul Hodes ($35.5 million for 35 projects) and Carol Shea-Porter ($41.9 million for 29) — brought home more than the average representative but not nearly as much as their Senate counterparts.
“New Hampshire’s tax dollars should be spent in New Hampshire, and I will continue my work to bring greater transparency and accountability to the earmark process with further reform,” Hodes said in a statement to the Union Leader.
Among Hodes’s earmarks are funds for BAE Systems in Nashua to improve the missile-warning systems in Army helicopters and money to help Franklin revitalize its downtown area with sidewalks, lighting, fencing and trees. He also gave credit to Gregg for helping secure funds for economic development, education and jobs.
The arguments seem to be made every year, with most members of Congress denouncing wasteful spending but at the same time siphoning off money in the federal budget for home-state projects. President Bush has called earmarking a “secretive process” and has urged changing it. All three presidential candidates have vowed to fight earmarks if elected.
As two live pigs scuffled next to reporters at Wednesday’s press conference at the National Press Club, Rep. John Campbell, R-Calif., said it is the responsibility of citizens “outside the beltway” to demand that Congress be more accountable with taxpayer dollars. Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga., said there is a “lack of congressmen and senators who want to stop wasteful spending.”
And Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, the senior Republican on the House Budget Committee, said the 2008 Pig Book shows “the priorities of Congress are to pick pork over paychecks.”
Republican Jeff Flake, however, admitted it was his party that “built earmark into what it is,” referring to the 12 years the GOP ran Congress. “We’ve been awful at this,” the Arizona representative said.
####
Pig Book Report Ranks Top Pork Barrel Offenders
PIG BOOK
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Jason Millman
Boston University Washington News Service
April 2, 2008
WASHINGTON – Massachusetts received $187 million from the federal government in pork-barrel spending in the 2008 fiscal year, ranking 31st in the country, according to an annual report from a congressional watchdog group.
The federal government invested $17.2 billion toward projects identified as pork-barrel spending by the Citizens Against Government Waste in its 18th annual Pig Book released Wednesday. The 11,610 projects are the second-highest number in the history of the book compiled by the private, non-partisan organization.
Massachusetts received its highest ranking since the organization first listed state-by-state spending in 2000. Of 100 senators, Massachusetts Sens. Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry ranked 33rd and 48th, respectively in bringing home the most pork. Mr. Kennedy secured $192.1 million in 124 projects, and Mr. Kerry secured $138.8 million in 124 projects.
This is the first year members of Congress are required to attach their names to earmarks they support because of a 2007 agreement between congressional Republicans and Democrats, said Citizens Against Government Waste president Thomas A. Schatz.
The Pig Book defines pork as spending that meets at least one of seven criteria: requested by only one chamber of Congress; not specifically authorized; not competitively awarded; not requested by the president; greatly exceeds the president's budget request; not the subject of congressional hearings; and serves only a local or special interest.
Programs identified as the most wasteful included the Lobster Institute in Maine, a national program to teach golf to children, and money for fruit fly research in France.
U.S. Rep. John W. Olver, D-Amherst, a member of the Appropriations Committee, ranked among the top members with $71.3 million in 63 projects. Mr. Olver, also chairman of the Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development, secured $5.8 million for the MBTA Fitchburg to Boston Rail Corridor Project, $1.47 million for the downtown streetscape in Pittsfield, and $269,500 for the renovation of the Berkshire Music Hall and Octagon House in Pittsfield.
“It’s my job to advocate on behalf of my constituents and look for opportunities to channel federal funding to worthwhile local economic development projects,” Mr. Olver said in a statement. “And these projects are solid investments. They work to address the needs of communities, assist local businesses, and contribute to basic health and educational needs. They are good uses of federal funds. Earmarks give me an opportunity to help make a difference, to directly address the needs I see in our community.”
U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester, brought $27.7 million back to Massachusetts, including $735,000 for road safety improvements at the College of the Holy Cross, $245,000 for the John Bartholomew Gough Estate in Boylston, and $82,000 for the Molly Bish Center at Anna Maria College.
“The Constitution gives Congress the power of the purse,” Mr. McGovern said in a statement. “I work closely with communities in my district, and I believe that I have a better idea of what those communities need than some bureaucrat in Washington who can’t even pronounce ‘Worcester.’”
Joined by several Republican members of Congress during a press conference Wednesday, Mr. Schatz expressed disappointment that Congress rejected a proposal earlier this year to implement a one-year ban on all earmarks.
“So far the only thing that has happened is the House Appropriations Committee was forced to extend its deadline for receiving earmarks because there is such a demand,” Mr. Schatz said. “So it’s business as usual, unfortunately.”
Mr. Schatz read off a list of “Oinker” awards, dubious honors highlighting the worst offenders and offenses of wasteful spending.
U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W. Va., who the organization labeled the “King of Pork,” was given the “Pantheon of Pork Award” for bringing in $386 million.
U.S. Rep. Charles B. Rangel, the long-serving Democrat from New York, was given the “Narcissist Award” for securing $1,950,000 toward creating a public service center with his name on it.
As two live pigs and a pig mascot – representing pork-barrel spending – stood just feet away, U.S. Rep. John B.T. Campbell III, R-Calif., acknowledged the somewhat humorous nature of yesterday’s press conference while highlighting serious concerns.
“You got the real pigs here, you’ve got the fake pig. It all seems pretty funny and amusing until you realize this money don’t come from nowhere,” Mr. Campbell said.
###
Pig Book Puts Pork Spending at $17.2 Billion
PIG-CONNECTICUT
Norwalk Hour
Erin Kutz
Boston University Washington News Service
April 2, 2008
WASHINGTON – Wasteful government spending grew 30 percent in the budget for fiscal year 2008, said government watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste when it released its Pig Book Wednesday.
The 2008 Pig Book listed $17.2 billion in what it dubbed pork-barrel spending on 11,610 projects—the second-highest number of such projects since the organization first compiled the Pig Book in 1991.
The group defines pork as spending that met at least one of these conditions: it was requested by only one chamber of Congress, it was not specifically authorized, it was not competitively awarded, it was not requested by the president or greatly exceeded the president's request, was not the subject of congressional hearings and served only a local or special interest.
This definition encompasses spending earmarks, the practice of designating money for local or special-interest projects.
In a press conference featuring two live pigs and a panel of legislators, Thomas Schatz, the organization’s president, lamented this year’s ballooned pig book. The 2007 fiscal year budget included fewer than 3,000 earmarked projects, totaling $13.2 billion.
This year, Connecticut ranked 27th overall, jumping eight spots from 35 in 2006. More than $134 billion in pork barrel spending was designated for the state, amounting to $38.37 per capita. The national average was $33.77.
Alaska and Hawaii ranked first and second, rankings they’ve maintained since 2000, when Citizens Against Government Waste started calculating pork per capita.
“It all seems pretty funny and amusing until you realize that this money don’t come from nowhere,” said Rep. John Campbell, R-Calif., suggesting that taxpayers must pick up the bill.
In January of last year, Congress approved a resolution for fiscal year 2007 that called for sharply limiting earmarked spending. Some members of Congress also have pledged not to earmark spending.
Because members of Congress were recently required to attach their name to their earmarks, this year’s report is the first that totals each legislator’s earmarks, though 464 undisclosed projects still made it through. The five Senate members who garnered the most dollars in pork barrel spending are all members of the Appropriations Committee, as were the top three in the House, Schatz said, who added that pork barrel spending is not confined to one party.
The Pig Book cites Rep. Chris Shays, R-4, with 32 pork barrel projects totaling $67.3 million. Some of them include $5,608,800 for Norwalk Harbor dredging and more than $400,00 for facilities and equipment for St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport.
“I believe securing federal funding for local projects is an important role for a member of Congress, but it is important this funding be transparent and meet basic requirements,” Shays said in statement.
Shays said his criteria are that transportation projects have the support of the local chief executive and that projects meet the “community meeting test.”
“If I can't justify the funding to constituents, I know it’s not a project I should support,” he said.
“Unfortunately, projects like Alaska’s ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ taint views of all congressionally directed funding, which is why we need stronger earmark transparency,” Shays said of the bridge connecting sparsely populated Alaskan communities that cost hundreds of millions of dollars through earmarks a few years ago.
Shays has also made his fiscal year 2009 requests accessible on his Web site.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., brought in $149.4 million for 101 projects and Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., pulled in $129.2 million for 75 projects.
“I support earmarks that promote the public good and provide much-needed services to Connecticut citizens,” Lieberman said in a statement. “The improved disclosure process has increased transparency and helped guarantee that the projects included in funding bills are responsible and beneficial. Any efforts to reform earmarks should include high levels of scrutiny and oversight.”
Some of the examples Citizens Against Government Waste highlighted as egregious were $1,950,000 put through by Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., for a public service center named after him, $3 million that House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., earmarked in the defense bill for a golf program and $211,509 Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., inserted in a spending bill for research on olive fruit flies.
###
Pig Book Pork Spending List Includes Money for Second Submarine
PIG-CONNECTICUT
New London Day
Erin Kutz
Boston University Washington News Service
April 2, 2008
WASHINGTON – Wasteful government spending grew 30 percent in the budget for fiscal year 2008, said government watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste when it released its Pig Book Wednesday.
Its listing of such spending includes money designated for spending in Connecticut to accelerate construction of a second Virginia-Class submarine.
The 2008 Pig Book listed $17.2 billion in what it dubbed pork-barrel spending on 11,610 projects—the second-highest number of such projects since the organization first compiled the Pig Book in 1991.
The group defines pork as spending that met at least one of these conditions: it was requested by only one chamber of Congress, it was not specifically authorized, it was not competitively awarded, it was not requested by the president or greatly exceeded the president's request, was not the subject of congressional hearings and served only a local or special interest.
This definition encompasses spending earmarks, the practice of designating money for local or special-interest projects.
In a press conference featuring two live pigs and a panel of legislators, Thomas Schatz, the organization’s president, lamented this year’s ballooned pig book. The 2007 fiscal year budget included fewer than 3,000 earmarked projects, totaling $13.2 billion.
This year, Connecticut ranked 27th overall, jumping eight spots from 35 in 2006. More than $134 billion in pork barrel spending was designated for the state, amounting to $38.37 per capita. The national average was $33.77.
Alaska and Hawaii ranked first and second, rankings they’ve maintained since 2000, when Citizens Against Government Waste started calculating pork per capita.
“It all seems pretty funny and amusing until you realize that this money don’t come from nowhere,” said Rep. John Campbell (R-Calif.), suggesting that taxpayers must pick up the bill.
In January of last year, Congress approved a resolution for fiscal year 2007 that called for sharply limiting earmarked spending. Some members of Congress also have pledged not to earmark spending.
Because members of Congress were recently required to attach their name to their earmarks, this year’s report is the first that totals each legislator’s earmarks, though 464 undisclosed projects still made it through. The five Senate members who garnered the most dollars in pork barrel spending are all members of the Appropriations Committee, as were the top three in the House, Schatz said, who added that pork barrel spending is not confined to one party.
Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) had 40 pork barrel project, totaling $69 million, listed in the Pig Book. In addition, the Pig Book cited his success in including in the defense budget $588 million to accelerate construction of a second Virginia-class submarine, even though the project was technically undisclosed.
Courtney said he went through the appropriate subcommittees, committees and both chambers to get the funding. “We totally played by the rules,” he said.
“I am passionate in my conviction that we produced a budget that is not only good for Connecticut but for the American taxpayer and the American Navy,” Courtney said of the fiscal year 2008 submarine budget.
He also pointed to the dredging grants the Old Saybrook and Mystic harbors garnered through earmarking. Although he said he’s “not a fan of earmarked spending,” the much- needed projects, he added, could not be achieved in the normal operating budget and the “earmarking process was the only safety valve.”
Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) brought in $149.4 million for 101 projects and Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) pulled in $129.2 million for 75 projects.
“I support earmarks that promote the public good and provide much-needed services to Connecticut citizens,” Lieberman said in a statement. “The improved disclosure process has increased transparency and helped guarantee that the projects included in funding bills are responsible and beneficial. Any efforts to reform earmarks should include high levels of scrutiny and oversight.”
Some of the examples Citizens Against Government Waste highlighted as egregious were $1,950,000 put through by Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) for a public service center named after him, $3 million that House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) earmarked in the defense bill for a golf program and $211,509 Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) inserted in a spending bill for research on olive fruit flies.
###
New Sub Group 2 Commander Returns to Submarine Life
GROOMS
New London Day
Erin Kutz
Boston University Washington News Service
April 2, 2008
WASHINGTON – When family and friends are asked to describe Navy Rear Adm. Bruce Grooms, one of the first words out of their mouths is “leader.”
”Humble” or one of its synonyms quickly follows.
The first makes sense. Grooms, a 1980 United States Naval Academy graduate, was captain of the school’s basketball team, captained the USS Asheville submarine, was commandant of midshipmen at his alma mater and worked as the virtual chief financial officer of the nation’s submarine fleet.
On March 22, he became commander of Groton’s Submarine Group 2, a position that puts him in charge of the East Coast’s attack submarines and of construction of all Virginia-class submarines, among other things.
But still, Grooms, 50, is quick to praise the officers around him and rarely indicates the importance of his achievements to those who don’t already understand naval ranks, childhood friend Craig Johnson said.
“When he tells me about all these moves, I don’t know quite how significant they were until I read about them in a magazine, months later, and I’m like, ‘Bruce, why didn’t you tell me?’ ” Johnson said.
Grooms, who grew up in the Cleveland area, can boast of additional achievements, particularly in the context of his race. He is one of just seven blacks who have commanded a submarine in the first hundred years of the submarine fleet – an elite group dubbed the Centennial Seven – and was the first black commandant of midshipmen at the Naval Academy, a position akin to dean of students at a civilian college.
But he’d rather not look at those as achievements in and of themselves.
“I guess it’s nice to have been a part of something special, but what will really make it special is that some day it won’t mean anything,” Grooms said, noting his hope for a force diverse enough that black leaders are not a rarity.
The husband and father of two sons has also garnered numerous Naval leadership awards, an undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering, a graduate degree in national security from the Naval War College and a stint at Stanford as a national security fellow. Perhaps Grooms’ humility and willingness to give credit to others is his position as the youngest of four children, where he was quick to seek counsel from his basketball coach, his parents and his older brother and hero, Gilbert, said Grooms’ oldest sister, Aloi Hill.
For Grooms, the most exciting aspect of leading Sub Group 2 is not the authority, but the ability to get back to his first love in the service: submarines.
“I joined the Navy to become a submariner,” he said. “I guess you always come back to what it is important to you.”
Prior to his March change of command, Grooms served as the director of submarine warfare in the Pentagon, an on-shore desk job that required him to create annual budget requests for the country’s submarine system.
The submarine force has played an increasingly vital role in national security, from launching missiles to gathering intelligence internationally, Grooms noted.
This most recent post gave Grooms the connections necessary for an advocate of the submarine force, said his former executive aide at the Pentagon, Navy Capt. Stuart Munsch.
“He was exposed to all the cutting-edge technology that’s developed in the Navy,” Munsch said. “He knows where to go in the Washington establishment to plug in what he needs.”
The Sub Group 2 commander is a vital and frequent representative of the force in Washington, said Lt. Joe Petrucelli, executive assistant to the group’s former commander, Rear Adm. Cecil Haney.
Petrucelli said the main qualification of the position is the “ability to deal with and remember a huge amount of people, a huge amount of facts, and multi-task your brain.” In a single day, the commander could go from a meeting on construction of submarines to a conference on housing in Groton, Petrucelli added.
Petrucelli will serve as Groom’s executive assistant for a few months until the routine is more well established and then will go to the Pentagon to serve under Haney – who has virtually swapped roles with Grooms as the new director of submarine warfare. Petrucelli said the success of the shift of commanders depends on how each responds to those under him.
“Admiral Haney was very low-key in his manner and never made you feel stressed out,” Petrucelli said. “He put people first.”
Grooms fits the bill for an easy transition. Co-workers and friends alike noted his sability to connect to people.
“He was always reaching out to the younger people and getting to know them and counseling them on career options,” Munsch said. “He was always careful to write a note of congratulations or a thank-you note when something significant happened.”
Grooms certainly gained experience in dealing with people while serving as the commandant of midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy for a year and a half starting in 2005.
Chet Gladchuk, the Academy’s athletic director, said he has seen five commandants leave in his time at the school, but has “never been more heartsick than when Bruce left.”
Though military academies are known for their rigidity compared to other universities, Grooms said, “You can’t forget that these are young people who have a lot of growing up and maturing to do.”
The job often required him to distinguish the difference between students’ honest mistakes and intentional failures and respond accordingly.
To Gladchuk, this patience underscored Grooms’ ultimate ability as a leader.
“As he delegates, he trusts in others, and people are motivated not to let him down,” said Gladchuk, who served on a senior leadership team alongside Grooms.
“He deals with issues—good, bad and ugly—consistently, confidently and with a high level of intelligence,” Gladchuk added.
Outside the Naval Academy, Grooms has seen firsthand one of the ugliest issues the country has faced—the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. At the time, he worked as the senior military aide to the undersecretary of defense for policy and was two corridors down from where the plane struck the Pentagon, he said.
“We felt the shock and heard the collision,” he said. “It immediately felt like a bomb was exploding.”
Grooms said that while he entered the service with the expectation of an international conflict resembling the Cold War, the 2001 attacks proved the demand for flexibility.
“We have to react to what the event is and gear up and do the best we can,” Grooms said. “We can’t know what’s on the horizon."
This outlook represents the way he’s handled the 15 moves his family has weathered.
“Even though he’s pretty much moved every year his older son has been alive, he’s been able to keep his family balanced and together,” longtime friend Johnson said. He credited Grooms’ wife, Emily, for the consistently smooth transitions.
In addition to a strong support system, difficult decisions are required in making the numerous moves. Grooms will move to Groton this week, but his wife, 15-year-old son Jeoff and 11-year-old son Jared will stay at their home in
Dumfries, Va. until the end of the school year.
“That’s one thing that’s difficult to sugarcoat,” Grooms said. “There’s no easy move.”
Another move should be on its way, sure enough. The Sub Group 2 commander position typically stays for two years, Grooms said. And then, probably back to the nation’s military hub, he speculated.
“Once you’ve successfully survived the Pentagon, the chances of coming back to it are pretty high,” he said.
Even though it could lead him away from firsthand contact with submarines, it should still keep him in touch with his ultimate forte: people. Even when he’s crunching numbers at an office rather than being at sea, Grooms said he wouldn’t have taken any other path.
“I love what I do and I love the people,” he said.
###
Allen Ocean Observing Bill Improves Fishing and Port Safety
Oceans
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
4/2/2008
WASHINGTON – Legislation sponsored by Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, that would strengthen ocean observation techniques and improve understanding of the nation’s bodies of water passed in the House on Monday.
Under the bill air, land and sea observations, which have been carried out by many government agencies and private organizations with different techniques and goals, would be coordinated under one integrated system allowing the nation to make better use of the information.
“We watch weathermen on the news and we forget that behind those reports is this vast network of weather satellites and other apparatuses,” Allen said in an interview on Wednesday. “An integrated system provides that data. A similar kind of data flow is what the integrated observation system provides.”
Allen’s national integrated system for studying the oceans is based on Maine’s Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System, or GoMOOS, which studies the Gulf of Maine to improve safety, increase understanding of weather and contribute to climate change findings.
GoMOOS was the model for regional observing systems throughout the country, but each year GoMOOS struggles to obtain funding, said Philip Bogden, head of GoMOOS.
“This bill will certainly help to sustain the data flow, but I think we still face significant challenges ahead,” said Bogden, who is exploring an alternative business model as well because, he said, GoMOOS can’t completely depend on the federal government.
In addition to establishing a funding mechanism for regional systems throughout the country, the bill “will provide a steady stream of real-time data about what’s happening offshore,” Allen said.
Allen recounts speaking with a Rockland, Maine, fisherman several years ago who told him how fishermen benefited from GoMOOS.
“Instead of trying to guess what the weather was going to be seven miles away, he could turn on his computer and get real-time data about what was going on out there and decide whether it was safe to go out and fish,” Allen said.
“I think it will have a major positive effect on the industry,” said Patrice McCarron, head of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association “The fishermen have become very dependent on the buoys to find out sea conditions and help tell them not to go out when it’s not safe…. This makes a system that was pioneered by Maine a national priority for the country.”
Allen also said the bill would help scientists who are “trying over an extended period of time to figure out what’s happening with the oceans.”
A coordinated observing system also would help to lessen erosion and pollution, strengthen the protection of ports and improve predictions of climate and weather changes and storms, like hurricanes.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration would be the lead agency to oversee and allot money to the new ocean-observing system.
The bill has been introduced in the House in the past, but “never went anywhere with the Republican Congress because even though it’s not a lot of money, it’s money,” Allen said. The initial investment for the integrated system was estimated at $138 million by the National Office for Integrated and Sustained Ocean Observations, or Ocean.US, the federal agency that would develop this effort.
The Senate’s companion measure was introduced by Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and approved by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee last summer. A full Senate vote has not been scheduled. When introduced in the past, the legislation has passed in the Senate, her office said.
“Despite the constant interaction between our lives on land and the natural systems of the ocean, the physical properties of nearly three-quarters of the Earth’s surface remain a mystery,” Snowe said after Monday’s passage of the House bill. “This bipartisan effort will help our country uncover those mysteries by developing a national integrated system.”
A nationwide observing system was one of the Bush administration’s top three recommendations when it announced its Ocean Research Priorities Plan and Implementation Strategy in January 2007.
###
