Club For Growth Releases 2009 House RePORK Card

Washington – At a time when our national priority ought to be economic growth, House members have been busy stuffing the 2010 appropriations bills with wasteful pork projects. While Representatives John Campbell, Jeff Flake, and Jeb Hensarling offered 68 amendments to strip outrageous pork projects from the 12 annual spending bills, none of the amendments passed.

The Club for Growth has compiled a RePORK Card of all members' votes on all 68 anti-pork amendments. “When given an opportunity to save taxpayer dollars and to limit spending to true national priorities, most members of Congress took a pass,” said Club Executive Director David Keating. "The RePORK Card will help taxpayers measure the dedication of their representatives to changing the culture of corruption that surrounds pork-barrel spending."

Though Congress skipped the regular appropriations process last year, the Club issued a similar RePORK Card in 2007. Some interesting numbers to consider from the new RePORK Card:

22 House members received a 100% score – 1 Democrat and 21 Republicans (In 2007, there were only 16 perfect scores, all Republicans)
211 House members received a 0% score – 202 Democrats and 9 Republicans (In 2007, there were only 105 zero scores – 81 Democrats and 24 Republicans)
The Dem member average score was 3%, with a median of 0%
The GOP member average score was 57%, with a median of 69%
The Dem leadership team had an average of 0% (majority leader, whip, chair)
The GOP leadership team had an average of 91% (minority leader, whip, chair)
Appropriators had an average of 6%, compared to 28% for non-appropriators
Blue Dog Democrats had an average score of 7%, and a median of 0% (52 members)
Republican Study Committee members had an average score of 69%, and a median of 82% (113 members)
Freshmen Democrats had an average score of 10%, and a median of 1% (32 members)
Freshmen Republicans had an average score of 64%, and a median of 71% (22 members)

Some of the targeted pork projects this year include:

$325,000 for the Institute for Seafood Studies in Thibodaux, Louisiana.
$250,000 for the Monroe County Farmer’s Market in Tompkinsville, Kentucky.
$150,000 for the restoration of Tarrytown Music Hall in Tarrytown, New York.
$100,000 for the Myrtle Beach Conference Center in South Carolina.
$90,000 for the Commercial Kitchen Business Incubator project in Watsonville, California.
$1 million for potato research in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.