Our analysis of the Omnibus spending bill found that the bill contains 11,772 earmarks at a cost of $15,780,533,623. If you have any questions, please feel free to call me at 202-546-8500 x 110. Here is a brief statement from Keith Ashdown, Vice President of Programs at Taxpayers for Common Sense:

"Here they go again. With the fat lady singing on the 108th Congress, lawmakers have just passed a massive spending bill that virtually no one has read, and no one knows much about. Despite this, hardly anyone seems to care. We heard a lot about how this bill is fiscally responsible. However, the facts speak for themselves. This bill is the fattest legislative hog that we have ever seen and despite record deficits, lawmakers are much more concerned with feathering the nests of their favorite parochial interests. If this bill is an indicator of what's to come, we will be swimming up a river of red ink for quite some time."

Below are some of the most egregious earmarks in the bill:

1. $25,000: Curriculum development for the study of mariachi music, Clark County School Distinct, NV, Labor-HHS.
2. $25,000: Banana Factory for an arts and technology after school program, Bethlehem, PA, Labor-HHS.
3. $45,000: A+ for Abstinence for abstinence education and related services, Waynesboro, PA, Labor-HHS.
4. $300,000: CyberSeniors, Inc. - Experience Senior Power Program, Detroit, MI, Labor-HHS.
5. $225,000: National Wild Turkey Federation, SC, Agriculture.
6. $250,000: Country Music Hall of Fame, Nashville, TN, VA/HUD.
7. $1,000,000: Missouri Pork Producers Federation: converting animal waste into energy, MO, VA/ HUD.
8. $75,000: Renovations of the Merry Go Round Playhouse, Auburn, NY, VA/HUD.
9. $100,000: Punxsutawney Weather Museum, Punxsutawney, PA, VA/HUD.
10. $306,000: Restroom repair at Porter Beach at Indian Dunes NL, IN, Interior.
11. $4,989,000: Stabilize bathhouses for adaptive reuse, Hot Springs, AR, Interior.
12. $800,000: Soybean Rust Research, Ames, IA, Interior.
13. $1,400,000: Laser lines of tug roads and lake Hood Seaplane base, Ted Stevens International Airport, AK, Transportation.
14. $1,593: Potato Storage, Madison, WI, Agriculture.
15. $250,000: Asparagus Technology and Production, WA, Agriculture.
16. $50,000: Feral Hogs, MO, Agriculture.
17. $150,000: Coca-Cola Space Science Center, Columbs, GA, VA/HUD
18. $150,000: Beaver management and damage. WI, Agriculture
19. $250,000: Sidewalks, street furniture, and facade improvements. Boca Raton, FL, VA/HUD
20. $200,000: American Cotton Museum. Greenville, TX, VA/HUD.
21. $218,250 to the Port of Brookings Harbor, Oregon for the construction of a seafood processing plant.
22. $344,000 to the City of New York Department of Parks and Recreation for the renovations to the Bath House at Crotona Park.
23. $72,750 to the City of Portland, Oregon for the Central City Eastside Street Car project.
24. $1,000,000 for the B.B. King Museum in Indianola, Mississippi $250,000 for the City of Caribou, Maine to improve and repair a gymnasium and related facilities in the Armory building.
25. $275,000 for the Village of Tijeras, New Mexico for the purchase of a fire truck 26. $200,000 for the town of Pahrump, Nevada for costs associated with the construction of the Pahrump/Nye County fairground.
27. $550,000 for Cleveland Playhouse Square.
28. $250,000 for the City of Birmingham, Alabama for the renovations to the Birmingham Zoo.
29. $100,000 for building a playground in Louisville, Kentucky $100,000 to the City of Ottawa, Kansas for the improvements to the municipal swimming pool.
30. $100,000 to the City of Rochester, New York for planning and expansion of the High Falls Film Festival.
31. $500,000 to Jazz at Licoln Center in New York City for facilities construction.
32. $200,000 for construction of the Blowing Rock Performing Arts Center in Blowing Rock North Carolina.
33. $100,000 to the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum in Hatteras, North Carolina for facilities construction.
34. $388,000 to the village of Western Springs, Illinois for construction of a parking lot.
35. $121,250 to the City of Los Angeles, California for the rehabilitation of the Echo Park Boathouse.

Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) is a non-partisan budget watchdog. TCS is dedicated to cutting wasteful spending and subsidies in order to achieve a responsible and efficient government that lives within its means.

Commentary:
I've always maintained that the fastest way to make a conservative into a big spender is to give him power. Then watch out. So far Bush has created well over $1.7 trillion of debt and his supporters have no clue where the money's going to come from. They also seem oblivious to the immorality of borrowing tons of money and giving it away. But . . . they claim they're more moral than the rest of us. Good grief, morality has been turned upside down and they can't see it.