Opinion
Don’t bring back the pork barrel
The latest state budget contained hundreds of earmarks, some listed in the General Fund itself and others shifted off-budget to disguise the spending total.
News
Congressional Pork Sets Record in 2008
RALEIGH — The number of congressional pork barrel projects may have reached a seven-year low last year, but that didn’t mean frugal spending habits were here to stay, according to the latest report from the government watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste.
News
Dole, Burr Like Transportation Bill
RALEIGH — Critics of pork-barrel spending came down hard on Congress's passage last week of a $286.4 billion transportation spending bill, but U. S. Senators Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr -- both Republicans -- voiced their approval of what the legislation would do for North Carolina. The state is expected to receive nearly $5.1 billion in highway funding and more than $413 million for public transportation projects, according to an announcement made by Dole's office on Friday.
News
Federal Pork Spending Grows in N.C.
RALEIGH — Federal spending for pork-barrel projects in North Carolina increased by almost one-third in the last year, but the state remains near the bottom for per capita pork, according to a Washington, D.C.-based government watchdog group. Citizens Against Government Waste released its 2005 Congressional Pig Book last week, in which it annually identifies and calculates the number of wasteful spending projects budgeted by the federal government. The nonprofit organization reported that North Carolina had $133.7 million in such projects, almost a 33 percent rise over last year's $101 million.
