There are many reasons we have a $9.5 trillion and climbing national debt. Deficit spending is a big contributor to our national debt, this year alone our representatives in congress will spend an estimated $410 billion more than the Dept. of the Treasury will take in. On the face of it, pork barrel projects, also known as earmarks, may seem to be a very small portion of the deficit however our representatives spend money like an 18 year old college student being let loose with dad's credit card. Their motto being 'I can spend all I want, it isn't my money'.

Pork barrel spending is government funding that benefits a particular congressman's or senator's home district in order for that legislator to win favor with their constituents in the form of votes or campaign contributions. Two of the most famous pork barrel projects include Boston's "Big Dig" which relocated a preexisting 3.5 mile highway underground, and ended up costing $14.6B,or over $4B per mile, and the Gravina Island Bridge better known to some as the 'Bridge to Nowhere', which was a proposed $398 million bridge which would service Ketchikan, Alaska (population 8,900) and the airport on the Island of Gravina (population 50). Thankfully good sense prevailed and the latter project was canceled in 2007.

The Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) bills itself as America's #1 taxpayer watchdog. They summarize all congressional earmarks from the last 17 years in the 'Pig Book Summary'. My personal favorite from 2008 comes from the state of Maine. Senators Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) along with Rep. Thomas Allen (D-Maine) have earmarked $188,000 for "The Lobster Institute" which has amongst its major accomplishments; lobster dog biscuits. Sadly they have allowed the domain thelobstercam.com to expire, I guess $188,000 isn't enough to keep a domain registered these days.

The 2007 champion "Porker of the Year" is Rep. Jack Murtha (D-Pa.). Rep. Murtha has brought bullying to a new level by using threats power plays and intimidation in his quest to bring home the bacon. Rep. Murtha, The House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman, threw a temper tantrum and threatened his colleagues over a motion to remove a $23 million earmark for the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) in Johnstown, Pa. The House Government Reform Committee has called the NDIC an "expensive and duplicative use of scarce federal drug enforcement resources". That outburst led Rep. Murtha to be named Porker of the Month for May 2007 and thus nominated him for the "Porker of the Year" award. According to the CAGW Murtha has brought home 72 pork projects worth $149.2 million this year.

The roll call for 2008 Porker of the Month is a bi-partisan effort. It includes Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for August, and the 71 senators who voted against an amendment to impose a one year moratorium on earmarks in March. This is a clear sign that these Senators are only interested in their personal projects and have no regard for increasing the deficit, which adds to our national debt.

The bottom line is our representatives have not served us well. They have broken the golden rule of sound financial planning by spending more than they bring in and borrowing to pay for the rest. We are not talking about essentials such as paying for national defense - earmarks are clearly luxury spending. The governments version of taking a vacation and paying for it with a high interest credit card. Sadly with the American voters head in the sand behavior, there is no end in sight.