Two things that you don’t want to see made
Hint: both contain a lot of pork. Senator John McCain has a list (link via Bruce Bartlett’s Talking Points.)
Here are a few of my favourites from recent legislation:
$1.5 million for the University of Nevada-Las Vegas to conduct safety and risk analysis. (I did some risk analysis in Las Vegas once, but not on taxpayer money).
$278,000 for asparagus technology and production (WA)
$2,000,000 for exotic pet diseases (CA)
$300,000 for future foods (IL)
Not less than $2,300,000 for the International Fertilizer Development Center. (Hmmm…Nahh, too easy.)
$1,000,000 for the Amanut Society.
Bear in mind that these projects have not been through any sort of peer-review process – these are pet projects of particular members of Congress that are inserted into larger bills.