Same as usual: That "simple" stopgap measure still sticks it to U.S. taxpayers

thisnumbersdisconnected · Oct 18, 2013

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...nding-bill-sprinkled-with-for-local-projects/

The stopgap bill to fund the government was only supposed to end the partial shutdown for a few months, no strings attached -- right?

Nope.

Despite the bill being tiny by Washington standards -- just 35 pages -- lawmakers still managed to tuck in billions of dollars in additional spending.

Already, one item has earned some degree of notoriety. Appropriators included a line increasing the budget for an Ohio River dam project from $775 million to $2.9 billion.
Click to expand...

The project is several years behind schedule, is a case study in government cost overruns like nothing since the military's $600 toilet seats, and probably isn't even necessary.

The bill also pays the widow of Sen. Frank Lautenberg a death benefit equivalent to the late lawmaker's salary of $174,000. Sounds reasonable, since it's traditional when a congresional member dies in office. Until you realize Lautenberg's estate, left entirely to his wife, is worth $59 billion.

I thought the whole idea was just to keep the government from defaulting on its debt. What has a questionable and overly expensive dam, or Lautenberg's widow, got to do with that?

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Same as usual: That "simple" stopgap measure still sticks it to U.S. taxpayers

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