Let's talk about Pork.

Further comments regarding the appropriations bill currently blasting its way through Congress:

Despite the mammoth size of the appropriations bill ($463.5 billion), our new Congressional leaders have designated a whopping 1 hour for debate regarding it.  Hmm.... seems like they might be hiding something... oh yes, earmarks.  But didn't we just make some kind of commitment regarding those?

Surprisingly a sizable chunk of these earmarks are destined for the home state of Senate majority leader, Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV).

This bill is so large that apparently it will increase the average American's portion of the national debt by $1539.53. 

And this bit for my dad:

One amendment would have eliminated an earmark for a tropical rain forest project in Iowa and transfer the $44.5 million in funding for that project to fund veterans healthcare. The Democrats, determining that rain forests in Iowa are of greater value than veterans, killed the amendment.