Porkbusters

[selenite0]

Cleaning up after Katrina is going to be expensive, even if we don't try to play King Canute with New Orleans. Adding that on top of all the money Congress is already wasting is going to hurt the budget. Various people are pushing a "Porkbusters" meme, asking Congressmen to cancel their pork projects to compensate for the costs of Katrina repairs.

To do my part I started digging through the web site of our Congresswoman, Kay Granger. So far the best bet for expendable pork looks like the planning funding for the "Trinity River Vision" project. She doesn't seem to have much in the way of specific line-item projects, her announcements are about defense contracts and grants. You'd think someone on the Appropriations committee could bring home more bacon. Possibly she's honest. Or the pork goes to swing states.

Anyway, from what I've heard about the TRV I'm not that fond of it anyway. They're announcing well in advance which areas will be affected, so when they actually try to claim them through eminent domain the "fair market value" will be rock bottom. The picture above is an example. The yellow region is part of Fort Worth near downtown that's slated to be part of the new flood plain. Too bad for anyone who'd invested in property or a business there.

The TRV is mostly future-vision at this point, there's not much going on except some studies. Rep. Granger announced the 2005 budget would have "$500,000 to continue improving neighborhood access to the Trinity River and $725,000 in economic development funds to go towards design and construction. The bill also includes $950,000 for the Corps of Engineers’ Upper Trinity River Basin study. Much of this funding will provide for design, planning, and completing the environmental impact statement for the Trinity Uptown Project." (see 11/30/04 press release at this link).

So I sent this email:

Dear Congresswoman Granger,

I'm very concerned by the damage done by Hurricane Katrina and want to help the victims. At the same time, the expense of the repairs could hurt the economy if it drives the federal deficit up. So I'm one of many people urging that less urgent programs be cut back to offset the cost of Katrina relief.

Would you be willing to sponsor a reduction or postponement of the $2,000,000 FY2005 appropriation for Trinity River Vision design and studies, with the money being shifted to Katrina relief?

Thank you for your time,

Karl Gallagher
Saginaw, TX

No answer yet, though I did get a press release that she's been appointed to the committee investigating the response to Katrina.

Update: Lack of answer here.

Comments

[thegameiam.livejournal.com]

I like the idea, but alas, I live in DC, and we don't get to vote. :/

One of the things I've never grokked about the budget is that so many of the expenditures are things which are clearly in a State or Locality's interest, but only questionably or vaguely in the National interest - maybe in a perfect world, Federal taxes would decrease, and State would increase proportionally...

[selenite.livejournal.com]

Tragedy of the Commons--it's easy to take a small piece of the budget for one locality, because the impact on each citizen elsewhere is too small to make it worth their while to fight it. When everyone does it, it adds up.

[thegameiam.livejournal.com]

hmm... Well, I think the answer is a strict test: "is X a matter of national interest?" If Yes, then the feds should fund it. If no, then the feds shouldn't. That would leave the military, NASA, the USPS, the FBI, and a small number of other agencies who do things which require a national scope (FDA, EPA?)

I have no problem with the rest being state programs, as long as federal taxes go down proportionally...