So what’s the difference between Earmarks, Pork, and Infrastructure? It’s all about allocating specific money to specific projects. Along the way the accomplishment of the project might be defined in such a way that only one specific company can do the work.
One man’s Pork is another man’s Infrastructure project. Is that Pork an Earmark? Earmarkwatch.org has identified more than 3,000 projects that they believe are Pork. Daniel Engber of Slate.com offered his definition but not everyone would agree. After all, a $500,000 grant to the Teapot Museum in Sparta, N.C. might be viewed by some as a perfectly legitimate way to spend taxpayer money.
Here is one of 10 most outrageous earmarks according to Time Magazine.
Another product of the pork-stuffed economic bailout bill, this earmark slipped into the Senate version of the legislation renews an expired rebate against excise taxes charged on rum imported from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands until the end of 2009. The provision was mocked during a subsequent debate in the House by Democrat Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, saying, “So we got tax breaks for rum. You’ve got it right. R-U-M.” But it still passed — and the criticism that followed in the media fired up lobbyists from Bacardi and Captain Morgan, the two most popular rum brands in the U.S., who said they aren’t seeing any of this money. The $192 million in tax cuts mostly go to the two territories to help them build up their economies and, in theory, keep them from needing larger financial handouts from the mainland. But then again, this practice isn’t new. For decades, Congress has been giving the two territories this precise tax cut. And if it hadn’t been part of this controversial bailout this time around, it might have once again gone unnoticed.
Senator Hillary Clinton and fellow New York Senator Charles Schumer requested a million bucks to put towards a museum project in their state, backed by a major Democratic Party contributor, commemorating the 1969 Woodstock music festival. This proposal failed. Some people of New York State probably thought this was a reasonable use of taxpayer’s money. A “bridge to nowhere” in Alaska or a “subway to the sea” in Los Angeles could be earmarks for worthwhile projects.
I personally think that subway is important and believe it to be a very worthwhile Infrastructure project. I hope President Obama agrees.
Coast Contact 
I’m not American, North, South or in between, but I thought the Woodstock museum proposal was reasonable. Woodstock was an iconic event that defined a generation, not just New York, or even the USA, but globally. People all over the world know about Woodstock, and establishing a Woodstock museum seemed like a perfectly logical thing to do.
Guess what is included in the latest tax concession agreement …
IRC § 7652(f) “cover over” of tax on distilled spirits to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands;
that’s right … the “compromise” includes tax breaks for rum ….
but also for film producers, NASCAR, food companies, computer and software companies, etc.
IMO, this “compromise” needs to hit the RESET button. It’s a bad deal.