U.S. troop funds diverted to pet projects

[Chris_]

U.S. troop funds diverted to pet projects

Senators diverted $2.6 billion in funds in a defense spending bill to pet projects largely at the expense of accounts that pay for fuel, ammunition and training for U.S. troops, including those fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to an analysis.

Among the 778 such projects, known as earmarks, packed into the bill: $25 million for a new World War II museum at the University of New Orleans and $20 million to launch an educational institute named after the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat.

While earmarks are hardly new in Washington, "in 30 years on Capitol Hill, I never saw Congress mangle the defense budget as badly as this year," said Winslow Wheeler, a former Senate staffer who worked on defense funding and oversight for both Republicans and Democrats. He is now a senior fellow at the Center for Defense Information, an independent research organization.

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[TheSarge]

This disturbs me greatly considering that when I go to Afghanistan next year it's gonna be a much hotter combat zone than Iraq was when I was there.   

[NHSparky]

$20 million to launch an educational institute named after the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy

Given the number of times he jammed it up the asses of our men and women in uniform, I'm surprised it's not a statue of a guy in desert fatigues giving him the finger.

Also, given the typical Mass. construction "overruns" to union thugs, politicians, and mafia bosses (but I repeat myself), it'll end up being about ten times that much and falling apart in a year, much like the Big Dig.

Dear DUmmies--you love Ted so much you want to make an "institude" after him?  Pass around the hat.  There's enough knob-slobbering brain-deads on the Cape that'll fork that money up in a heartbeat.