Waste is in the eyes of the fiscal watchdog. Citizens Against Government Waste’s 2008 Congressional Pig Book Summary (cagw.org) rips into 11,610 “pork barrel” projects worth $17.2 billion in the 2008-09 fiscal year. … Some prominent APA legislators topped the lists, including the two octogenarian Dans — Hawai‘i Sens. Daniel Inouye (ranked sixth among 100
BOOK ’EM, DAN: Inouye brought in 131 projects totaling $385.5 million to Hawai‘i and other states. … Junior Sen. Akaka chalked up $185 million for 59 projects, refuting Time magazine’s 2006 label as an ineffective “Master of the Minor.”… In perspective, Inouye — who also grabbed $243,000 for Filipino cultural education at the Bishop Museum — nearly outdid all three presidential candidates combined: Hillary Clinton ranked 13th with 281 projects for $296 million; Barack Obama had a measly 53 projects at $97 million (ranked 70th) and GOP nominee-to-be John McCain’s goose egg tied for 96th. …
NEWCOMERS HAVE CLOUT: Seniority isn’t a requirement to wield clout. Also, being Republican was no hindrance with Democrats holding the House. GOP congressman and now Louisiana governor, Bobby Jindal, tacked on $100 million for 26 projects, ranking 13th and the highest among APA House legislators, ahead of relative newcomer Rep. Doris Matsui, D-CA. The Sacramento representative came in 27th with $81 million infused among 18 projects — including $1 million for bone marrow failure disorder research. Doris is picking up where her husband Robert left off, after being elevated by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (the powerful San Francisco legislator was ranked 18th with $91 million for 51 projects) to the powerful Rules Committee in her first year. …
OTHER APA LEGISLATORS: Only in her first full term, Hawai‘i Congresswoman Mazie Hirono came in 53rd with $59 million for 47 projects, helping Akaka and Inouye pump dollars into Hawai‘i. David Wu, D-OR, in his fifth term, wasn’t far ahead at 46th with $64 million for 41 projects, including $147,000 for Chinese Heritage Park in Astoria, Ore. Virginia Rep. Bobby Scott ranked 38th with 31 projects, totaling $69 million. …
APA NONPROFITS HELPED: Pelosi, Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA), and Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) injected $1.1 million into Kathy Owyang Turner’s Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation. Feinstein kicked in $165,000 for executive director Jeff Mori’s Asian American Recovery Services in the S.F. Bay Area for substance abuse treatment. … Rep. Mike Honda — ranking 132nd with $32 million for 38 projects — snagged $368,000 for Michele Lew’s Asian Americans for Community Involvement, and $292,000 for Gautam Godhwani and Anil Godhwani’s India Community Center. Both nonprofits host health clinics. …
CONGRESS ALSO SENT … : $267,900 for interim executive Rosetta Lai’s Asian American Leadership Empowerment and Development for Maryland families; for a new building or acquiring a facility: $147,000 for CEO May To’s Asian Youth Center of San Gabriel, Calif., and $490,000 for executive director Diane Narasaki’s Asian Counseling and Referral Service in Seattle, Wash.; and $182,000 for director Elaine Ng’s Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center Workforce Development Initiative in Mass. …
WASTE NOT ON WASTE?: While CAGW preached “waste not” on a proposed football stadium site, they were clueless on Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s efforts with pumping $7.8 million into cleaning up toxic wastes at San Francisco’s former Bayview Hunters Point Naval Shipyard — adjacent to major African American and APA neighborhoods. The former S.F. mayor secured $294 million for 189 projects and ranked 14th among senators. …
NOT LAST, NOR LEAST: Even the non-voting delegate from American Samoa, Eni Faleomavaega, drew $600,000 for a project, ranking 423rd. …