Jonathan Weisman provided a useful service by pointing out that the pork in the supplemnetal Iraq War appropriation bill approved by the Democratic Congress was not qualitatively different than the pork that had been included in the prior supplementals passed by Republican Congresses. It would have been helpful if he could have put the whole porkfest in context for readers. The add-ons to this year's bill totaled approximately $20 billion. This is equal to about $67 per person or approximately 0.67 percent of projected spending. It's also worth noting that much of this $20 billion is not what most people would view as pork. For example, it includes money for the rebuilding of New Orleans which would presumably be approved by Congress in some form even if it were not attached to the bill. The "pure" pork in this bill was only a fraction of the $20 billion.
--Dean Baker