Alabama Pork

The Tuscaloosa News laments that Alabama's current crop of lawmakers in Washington don't bring home the bacon like those of a generation ago. But they have a pretty good list of what pork barrel projects they do bring home:

• Sen. Richard Shelby added $591,000 in the Senate agriculture bill for tri-state peanut joint research to examining factors affecting the peanut industry
• Shelby included $800,000 for the Coosa Valley Water Supply District to help provide a potable water source
• Rep. Robert Aderholt included $7 million in a House transportation reauthorization bill for the extension of Interstate 565 to Decatur
• Rep. Bud Cramer secured $4 million in a House defense bill for development of credible threat prediction capabilities

Citizens Against Government Waste says the Alabama delegation got about $345 million in pork for the folks at home this year:

• $35 million for a Transportation Technology Center at Auburn University
• $1 million for a runway extension at the Freddie Jones Airport in Linden
• $800,000 for the Coosa River Boardwalk in Gadsden
• $121,250 to the Helen Keller Birthplace Foundation for restoration of Ivy Green in Tuscumbia.

Alabama has three lawmakers on Congressional Appropriations Committees. (Tuscaloosa News )