Alabama’s august senior senator has appropriated $4 million for a parking deck in Tuscaloosa.  Clearly parking in T-town is a federal concern.  One can’t post a link to his taxpayer funded gift to UAT without noting his ties to the community.

Not that it would matter, but Shelby should read this op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.

The Club for Growth recently conducted a nationwide poll on government spending, and the results were exactly the opposite of what most politicians have been saying for years. Voters are fed up with Washington’s out-of-control spending. Politicians aren’t representing the will of the people when they bring home the bacon. They are really representing the will of their special-interest cronies. And it’s not just conservative voters who feel that way. Voters across the board have finally found something they can agree on even if their elected officials can’t: It’s time to cut the fat, even if that means fewer projects for their own districts.

Conducted in late June, the poll surveyed 800 voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.46%. Likely voters were asked the following question: “All things being equal, for whom would you be more likely to vote for the U.S. Congress: 1) A candidate who wants to cut overall federal spending, even if that includes cutting some money that would come to your district or 2) A candidate who wants to increase overall spending on federal programs, as long as more federal spending and projects come to your district?”

…

Voters across America don’t see their elected officials “listening” and “providing.” Instead they see spending that is wasteful, prone to corruption, arbitrary and inefficient. They see Republican congressmen like Duke Cunningham and Bob Ney hauled off to jail for earmark-related corruption. They see Congress lavishing their hard-earned tax dollars on such projects as the “Bridge to Nowhere” in Alaska, the Mule and Packers Museum in California, and the Lobster Institute in Maine. Even worthy-sounding earmarks like a local science lab are viewed with suspicion. After all, these projects are not subject to competitive review and bidding, and they are designed to benefit the few at the expense of the many.

Citizens Against Government Waste released their 2008 Pig Book today. The top three porkers, Senators Thad Cochran, Ted Stevens, and Richard Shelby, all share one thing in common. They’re all Republicans. It’s kind of hard for the party to proclaim itself as the party of fiscal restraint when prominent members are flagrantly wasting taxpayer dollars.

As usual the Pig Book is chock full of programs so ridiculous it is hard to imagine our elected officials would have the gall to fund them. Cricket research. A lobster institute that lists as one of its major accomplishments a lobster dog “bisque-it.” Nearly $2 million for the “Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service” inserted by… you guessed it: Rep. Charles Rangel. A jazz center.

It would be funny if it weren’t true.

Alabama Senator Richard Shelby tied for last place in Citizens Against Government Waste’s annual “Porker of the Year” competition.  He finished with a paltry 4.1% of the vote.  Mine was one.  Jack Murtha ran away with the competition with over 63% of the votes.  I’m sure the outcome won’t dampen Shelby’s annual quest to waste copious federal tax dollars on all kinds of useless projects, though.

For what it’s worth at this point, Sen. Richard Shelby has thrown his support behind Sen. John McCain for president.  People still talk about the time McCain “publicly abused” Shelby, but I bet Shelby has more grief with McCain over McCain’s staunch, outspoken opposition to pork than any spat they may have had.

Alabama Senator Richard Shelby is one of six nominees for the prestigious Porker of the Year award from Citizens Against Government Waste.  Congratulations to our august senior senator!

The best news, though, is that you - the larded constituent - can vote in support of Shelby.  He’ll need your support; the competition is tough with legislators including Jack Murtha (D-PA) and Don Young (R-AK).

Be sure to vote for Shelby and show him that you recognize his wasteful ways.

U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., is scheduled to hold a town hall meeting in Huntsville on 7 April 2008.  The details are subject to change, but it is scheduled to start at 7:30 am.  It will be held at the Huntsville Chamber of Commerce or the VBC.

From the News Courier:

U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., will speak at Athens Senior Center on Pryor Street noon Saturday, Jan. 19.

Shelby will discuss his legislative agenda for the 110th Congress as well as issues facing the nation and state.

Following his remarks, the senator will be open to questions from the floor and comments from the audience.

Tucked within the bloated omnibus spending bill recently passed by Congress and signed by President Bush were over 9,000 earmarks worth more than $7 billion. I took a few minutes to parse the list of earmarks provided by Sen. DeMint for all of the ones specific to Alabama and totaled them for all to see. The waste is profligate. Our tax dollars are being used to study catfish genetics, build a kitchen, and to renovate a theater just to name a few - and that is just in Alabama. The list also includes the recently announced project to tear up a perfectly good road in Huntsville and replace it with a bridge.

Senator Richard Shelby predictably led the pack with $27 million in earmarks. Sen. Jeff Sessions rang up a more svelte $3 million tally. The leading porkers in the house were Mike Rogers, Bud Cramer, and Robert Aderholt. Spencer Bachus, Terry Everett, and Artur Davis showed considerably more restraint with our money.

Remember folks, you just paid for their campaign advertisements!

A looming presidential veto will snag (probably very temporarily) some Alabama pork projects according to AL.com.

President Bush said today that one of the reasons he vetoed legislation to fund labor, health and education programs for next year was because it had too much pork. The White House counts 2,200 earmarks worth almost $1 billion. His statement was nonpartisan on its face but when he blames Congress where the Democrats are in the majority, you can figure it out.

…

For the record, pork in Washington is bipartisan. Alabama’s delegation — 7-2 GOP — corralled its share in the newly vetoed bill. Here is a sample from the Republican members of the delegation:

$9.3 million for a new health services building at the University of Alabama, sponsored by Sen. Richard Shelby and Rep. Jo Bonner

$100,000 for the town of Argo for a senior citizens center, sponsored by Rep. Spencer Bachus and Shelby

$350,000 for Gadsden State Community College for technology upgrades, sponsored by Reps. Robert Aderholt and Mike Rogers.

Just to name a few.

What a shame.  Another multi-million dollar taxpayer funded monument to Shelby’s greatness might be on hold.

Also… What in the wide world of sports is the federal government doing paying for a senior citizens center in Argo friggin’ Alabama?  I don’t see how it could possibly be a national concern.

… but Senator Richard Shelby, not to be outdone, has earned the “Porker of the Month” award from Citizens Against Government Waste.  Shelby was recognized for his penchant for using federal tax dollars to build shrines to his greatness on various universities.  This year Shelby had the largest of 401 earmarks in the HRSA section of the Senate’s 2008 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (LHHS) Appropriations Act - an $11 million check for his alma mater, UAT.

Most people donate their own money to get buildings named after them.  Shelby is a federal legislator who instead confiscates money from private citizens and then doles it out as though it were his own and shamefully gets buildings named after him.

This isn’t Shelby’s first “Porker of the Month” award; he last won in August of 2003.