WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today announced its nominees for the 2014 Porker of the Year. Ballots can be cast for the most reprehensible Porker in an online poll at www.cagw.org. The six finalists were chosen by CAGW staff from among 12 worthy Porkers of the Month for 2014. The voting deadline is February 17, 2015 and the results will be announced on February 18, 2015. The candidates are:
Consumer Financial Protection Board (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray was named July Porker of the Month for his role in the agency’s gross mismanagement of the CFPB’s headquarters renovation budget, which has ballooned by almost 300 percent from a projected initial cost of $55 million to $215.8 million. According to the CFPB Office of Inspector General, agency officials were “unable to locate any documentation” related to the renovation.
Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) was named August Porker of the Month for her inane efforts to re-brand the term “net neutrality” through an online contest on Reddit.com that urged participants to “care about their right to uninhibited access to the Internet.” While Rep. Eshoo has been quoted as supporting a “light regulatory touch,” she said that the FCC should prevent Internet service providers from blocking certain kinds of content and is also opposed to allowing users to pay different rates for different content.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) was named March Porker of the Month for her support of a parochial pet project involving the construction of the Izembek road project, a 38-mile dead-end “Road to Nowhere.” Money earmarked for the road in the 1990s was instead used to buy a hovercraft, which was subsequently handed over to another town. In April, 2014, the state of Alaska announced it would sue the federal government to get the road built, even though it is clearly meant to help local commercial interests.
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) was named November Porker of the Month for his second unsuccessful attempt to convince fellow Republican lawmakers that earmarks should be restored. During a closed-door meeting on November 14, 2014, by a vote of 145-67, House Republicans rebuffed Rep. Roger’s effort to earmark projects for “state, locality, public utility or other public entities.” Rep. Rogers made his pitch even though House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) made it crystal clear then and subsequently reiterated his commitment that the earmark moratorium will continue.
Former U.S. Chief Information Officer (CIO) Steven VanRoekel was named June Porker of the Month for claiming that no legislation was needed to modernize dysfunctional federal information technology systems, leading CAGW to wonder if he should win the first “Are You Kidding Me?” award.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) was named February Porker of the Month after she suggested that the United States Postal Service (USPS) should expand into offering financial services. Her comments came shortly after the publication of a January 27, 2014 USPS Inspector General report that suggested the USPS, which now only sells money orders, dabble more extensively into “non-banking services,” such as payment and credit services, which are all well-served by private companies.
CAGW is the nation’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government. Porker of the Month and Porker of the Year are dubious honors given to lawmakers, government officials, and political candidates who have shown a blatant disregard for the interests of taxpayers.
