Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Ballooning the federal deficit

Arizona’s GOP senator John McCain has been fuming over the $7.7 billion worth of earmarks hidden in the nooks and crannies of a $410 billion spending bill that started in the House and was making its way through the Senate. He tried but failed on a 63–32 vote to remove more than 8500 earmarks for fellow lawmakers’ pet projects from the bill. But then, late last week, Democrats failed to come up with enough votes to push the final bill through the Senate, leaving open the question of whether some of the pork might eventually be stripped from the legislation.

So what goodies may be bound for San Diego? A Washington group called Taxpayers for Common Sense has assembled a database of Congress’s pet spending. Way at the top of the list of local projects is $110,362,000 to pay for massive cost overruns on a federal courthouse downtown, the budget for which hit $368.7 million as of last month. That was sponsored by Susan Davis, fellow Democrat Bob Filner, and Republicans Darrell Issa and Duncan Hunter. Then there is $1.35 million for the “San Diego and Imperial Counties Regional Communications System Upgrade,” thanks to all of the above plus Republican Brian Bilbray.

Sponsored
Sponsored

On his own, Bilbray earmarked $285,000 for “Encinitas Blvd/Interstate 5 Interchange Environmental Review” and $476,000 for a “public health information management system” for the county, along with $500,000 for “Coastal Field Data Collection: Southern California Beach Processes Study.”

Davis slipped in $95,000 for a group called Survivors of Torture International, to provide “medical, dental, psychological, and social services to victims of torture.” She got the same amount for the Southern Sudanese Community Center to spend on “job counseling and training of at-risk youth” and sponsored “regional bus replacement” to the tune of $475,000; $428,000 was set aside for Family Health Centers of San Diego for facilities and equipment, says Taxpayers for Common Sense.

Filner sponsored $58,910,000 for the San Ysidro Land Port of Entry, along with $4,479,000 for the San Diego Area Water Reclamation Program.

Issa sponsored $142,500 for a French Valley Airport Feasibility Study and $238,000 for the MiraCosta College Foundation, to be devoted to “nursing programs, including career development.”

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Use San Diego crosswalks at your own peril

But new state law clearing nearby parking might backfire

Arizona’s GOP senator John McCain has been fuming over the $7.7 billion worth of earmarks hidden in the nooks and crannies of a $410 billion spending bill that started in the House and was making its way through the Senate. He tried but failed on a 63–32 vote to remove more than 8500 earmarks for fellow lawmakers’ pet projects from the bill. But then, late last week, Democrats failed to come up with enough votes to push the final bill through the Senate, leaving open the question of whether some of the pork might eventually be stripped from the legislation.

So what goodies may be bound for San Diego? A Washington group called Taxpayers for Common Sense has assembled a database of Congress’s pet spending. Way at the top of the list of local projects is $110,362,000 to pay for massive cost overruns on a federal courthouse downtown, the budget for which hit $368.7 million as of last month. That was sponsored by Susan Davis, fellow Democrat Bob Filner, and Republicans Darrell Issa and Duncan Hunter. Then there is $1.35 million for the “San Diego and Imperial Counties Regional Communications System Upgrade,” thanks to all of the above plus Republican Brian Bilbray.

Sponsored
Sponsored

On his own, Bilbray earmarked $285,000 for “Encinitas Blvd/Interstate 5 Interchange Environmental Review” and $476,000 for a “public health information management system” for the county, along with $500,000 for “Coastal Field Data Collection: Southern California Beach Processes Study.”

Davis slipped in $95,000 for a group called Survivors of Torture International, to provide “medical, dental, psychological, and social services to victims of torture.” She got the same amount for the Southern Sudanese Community Center to spend on “job counseling and training of at-risk youth” and sponsored “regional bus replacement” to the tune of $475,000; $428,000 was set aside for Family Health Centers of San Diego for facilities and equipment, says Taxpayers for Common Sense.

Filner sponsored $58,910,000 for the San Ysidro Land Port of Entry, along with $4,479,000 for the San Diego Area Water Reclamation Program.

Issa sponsored $142,500 for a French Valley Airport Feasibility Study and $238,000 for the MiraCosta College Foundation, to be devoted to “nursing programs, including career development.”

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Ben Benavente, Karl Denson, Schizophonics, Matt Heinecke, Frankie & the Witch Fingers

Troubadours, ensembles, and Kosmic Konvergences in Mission Beach, Del Mar, Little Italy, La Jolla, City Heights
Next Article

Use San Diego crosswalks at your own peril

But new state law clearing nearby parking might backfire
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader