The venerable taxpayer advocate group Citizens Against Government Waste puts out a list each year detailing the wasteful projects on which our Senators and Representatives are spending the money they confiscate from our paychecks each week.  The list details the "pork barrel" projects, commonly called "earmarks", that are largely serving a local or special interest, are not ever discussed in hearings or committee meetings, not competitively awarded, and are typically inserted into spending bills by an individual member of Congress.  Recipients of earmarks have included such things as a Teapot Museum, The Lobster Institute of Maine, space alien watch programs, and the now-infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" in Alaska.

The 2008 "Pig Book" was released this week, and it provides valuable information about our elected officials and how the respect (or lack thereof) they have for the money taken from their constituents.  So far in 2008, five senators have requested zero earmark projects:  Republicans DeMint, McCain, and Coburn, and Democrats Feingold and McCaskill.  The top ten worst Senate offenders, led by Republican Thad Cochran of Mississippi, added over $4 billion in spending to our budget; widen the scope to the top 15 offenders, and over $6 billion of the fruits of our labors were spent cavalierly by those Senators on projects in their respective states -- projects that were never scrutinized on the merits, never discussed on the floor of the Senate, never requested by the executive branch.  On the House side, there are 10 members who received no earmarks this year, and the worst 10 spenders "only" cost us about $1.4 billion.

Of course, beyond the mere earmarks are many other projects benefiting special and local interests that receive our federal tax dollars.  Some of the projects are no doubt worthy of support, like local libraries and public mass transit systems; however, shouldn't a local library or bus line be the responsibility of the local community benefiting from the service?  If Houston wants to expand its Metrorail service, regardless of whether or not it is a good idea shouldn't matter to the federal government; a taxpayer in, say, Toledo shouldn't be footing the bill for a Houstonian's train ride.  I certainly believe public libraries provide an important service; however, I shouldn't be asked to pay for a library in, say, Bakersfield. 

Businesses and industries benefit from our money as well.  Rather than requiring businesses to provide goods and services people wish to purchase in order to remain in business, "corporate welfare" -- special subsidies and protections for businesses -- are rampant in our federal budget.  The Department of Commerce is chock-full of corporate welfare programs.  Granted, there are some valid functions within the Commerce Department:  the Census Bureau, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Office of Patents and Trademarks administer functions of the federal government specifically defined within the Constitution.  I believe a pretty good case can be made as well for the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration and for the Economic & Statistical Analysis division.  But those functions together equal only about 50-60% of the $9.25 billion budgeted to the Department in Fiscal Year 2009, and that's assuming there aren't subdivisions within those valid divisions that could be cut.  Add to that top-line programs like the Emergency Steel Guaranteed Loan Program, Minority Business Development Agency,  National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and, yes, the Emergency Oil & Gas Guaranteed Loan Program (at a time of record oil & gas prices!) all sound like they are rife with corporate special benefits.  Keep in mind this is only one cabinet agency; the Department of Agriculture spends billions more on corporate handouts, some of which serve as a double whammy:  they charge your tax money to support higher food prices for families and individuals.

Ultimately, the key to all of this is a simple concept:  every dollar spent by the government is a dollar taken from taxpayers.  Every dollar paid in taxes to the government is involuntary, and is a dollar that families and individuals don't have to spend on clothing, food, education, health care, and investing for retirement.  The bottom line:  it's OUR money, and by not treating our money with respect, politicians are not treating us with respect.  We deserve better; we should demand it.