I’m not a fan of earmarks, but it’s how Washington works (unfortunately). Taxpayers for Common Sense and opensecrets.org have provided a list of earmarks out of this Congress.
For those who lobby, some got lots for their bucks. The University of Alabama spent $360,000 but received $40.55 million. That money will be used for two projects: $30 million for an interdisciplinary science and engineering teaching and research corridor and $10.55 million for weather research in the Gulf of Mexico.
Mississippi State University, the University of Mississippi, and the University of Mississippi Medical Center cleaned up. Together, they spent $440,000 in lobbying but they got back nearly $36 million.
Loma Linda University Medical Center was the biggest California winner. They spent $255,000 but did get back $2.8 million to be used in their space radiation health research program.
There were some losers. Texas A&M University spent a whopping $770,000 but only got back $500,000 in earmarks; Texas Tech spent $565,000 but they too received only $500,000 in earmarks. The Nature Conservancy, though, was the biggest loser. The non-profit spent $1.31 million but only received $445,000 in earmarks.
One day, hopefully in the near future, we will see all earmarks vanish. I can always dream.