Porker Of The Year 2002

chuckster

IMFUBARED
Senator Robert Byrd is Porker of the

Year for 2002


(Washington, D.C.) -- Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) announced today the final results of its online poll for Porker of the Year for 2002. Senator Robert Byrd (D-W. Va.) finished first with a whopping 55.9 percent of the vote, outdistancing the other four finalists by a considerable margin. The other finalists, in order of votes received, were: Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) (14.1 percent), House Appropriations Committee Staff Director Jim Dyer (13.8), Senators Joe Biden (D-Del.) and Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.) (11.2), and Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.) (5.0).

The five finalists were chosen by CAGW staff from among the 11 Porker of the Month winners throughout 2002, and voted on by 733 participants. Several people wrote in other responses, such as "the entire Congress," but those were too few to factor into the final tally.

Senator Byrd, a.k.a. the King of Pork, was selected as the July Porker of the Month for taking to the Senate floor and chastising Office of Management and Budget Director Mitch Daniels and President Bush for their efforts attempting to establish spending limits.

Senator Mikulski, Porker of the Month for September, inched out Dyer by a mere two votes for the silver medal. Mikulski was selected for blatantly asking the late Senator Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) to get a better fix on projects that would resonate with his Minnesota constituents and to "get back" to her. Through the VA/HUD bill, Mikulski directed a total of $38.8 million to the states of vulnerable Senate Democrats in Georgia, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota, as well as Minnesota this past election year.

Dyer, Porker of the Month for March, finished third for being one of Washington's most ferocious and effective defenders of congressional pork. In Dyer's view it is every appropriators' right to earmark funds in appropriations bills to get maximum payola for hometown special interests. More information on all the finalists, along with the remaining 6 Porker of the Month winners for 2002, can be found in The Porker of the Month Hall of Shame at www.cagw.org
 
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