http://www.gaporkbusters.org Exposing the pork under the Gold Dome Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:52:22 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en State Rep. Ben Harbin continues his role as Porkmaster as local assistance grants (the Georgia version of earmarks) are added on in conference committee, hidden from public view until an hour before the budget is voted on:The spending included 470 local assistance grants that were not revealed to the public ... http://www.gaporkbusters.org/2008/04/10/georgia-legislators-bring-home-pork/ Goes to Eric Johnson: We are off for a week for Easter and to let the Senate Appropriations Committee work on our version of the FY09 budget. Easter is about Grace. We need it. http://www.gaporkbusters.org/2008/03/21/quote-of-the-day/ As I previously wrote, six legislators voted against the $300 million amended budget today. They are: - Steve Davis - Bobby Franklin - Tom Graves - Doug Holt - Barry Loudermilk - Martin Scott They wrote a letter explaining there actions, here is the text courtesy of Steve Davis: During the 2007 session of the General Assembly, ... http://www.gaporkbusters.org/2008/02/08/friends-of-the-taxpayers/ The amended FY 2008 budget passed this morning, six legislators voted against it. One interesting note, there was a rule change in the House that prevented amendments from being offered: Rule 108.3 No amendment to any appropriations bill shall be in order if the amendment has the effect of both ... http://www.gaporkbusters.org/2008/02/08/amended-budget-passes/ When lawmakers arrived today, the amended FY2008 budget was sitting on their desks. The budget has to sit for 24 hours after presentation and will be taken up during the tomorrow's session. No copies have been distributed. As soon as one comes available, we'll get it posted. [UPDATE] You can view ... http://www.gaporkbusters.org/2008/02/07/amended-budget-presented-vote-tomorrow/ Continuing their recent stories on government waste, WSB-TV shows your federal tax dollars at work...researching eye movements while watching porn at Emory University. WSB will also be doing stories on hidden taxes (this Thursday at 6pm) and how these tax cost us each $3,000 a year and a story on monkey ... http://www.gaporkbusters.org/2008/02/05/taxpayer-funded-porn-research/ We here at Georgia Porkbusters encourage our readers to vote their conscience, but we respectfully encourage you not to vote for Mike Huckabee. Mike Huckabee a taxpayer's nightmare. During his tenure as Governor of Arkansas, taxpayers saw their tax burden jump from 30th in the nation in 1997 to 13th ... http://www.gaporkbusters.org/2008/02/02/say-no-to-tax-hike-mike/ I received this press release from Lynn Westmoreland's office: U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland announced today that he will not pursue earmarks in this year’s budget process as part of his fight to overhaul what he considers Congress’ wasteful pork-barrel spending. Westmoreland’s earmark moratorium will be in effect until the process ... http://www.gaporkbusters.org/2008/01/24/no-earmarks-for-westmoreland/ Consider this a very small victory: "I am not as big of an advocate of the state investing in museums as I was last year," said state Rep. Ben Harbin (R-Evans), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Harbin pushed the General Assembly for extra money last year for the Golf Hall of ... http://www.gaporkbusters.org/2008/01/20/did-he-see-the-light/ The full budget request by the Governor is now online at the Planning & Budget office. It's a very large file (7MB) and 440 pages, but you can download it directly here. I already posted some of the requests yesterday. This report just goes into more detail. Let's just say that ... http://www.gaporkbusters.org/2008/01/17/budget-requests/