Putting the PORK in "Porkulus" - $595,000.00/lb Ham. yum! yum!

[The One Man Gang]

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/07/gov_paying_over_a_half_million.html



Seems that's some REALLY GOOD ham they got there 'cause our (dammit) gubmint then ordered another package at $1.25 MILLION/lb!  That's STIMULATING!



OK, so it's actually for a total of 760,000 lbs of "frozen water-added sliced ham." 

It still stinks.

Why, you ask?

Now, let an old food dude 'splain what's going on here: 1) FREEZING "water-added ham" ruins the product.  The ONLY ham that can be frozen is either "country ham" which has a very low moisture level or "natural juice" (read: premium-priced product) ham.  Period.  In a "water-added" or "ham and water" product the water crystalizes as it freezes and tears the muscle fibers leaving a product that, once thawed, has the consistency of a kitchen sponge. 

Clougherty Packing is a subsidiary of Big Food corporation HORMEL.  This local plant also just settled a labor dispute with a union but had mucho producto that they had to freeze before the settlement because truckers wouldn't cross the picket line and it was approaching the "sell by" date. No meat buyer is going to touch this sh*t for anything over a salvage price because he/she KNOWS it's garbage. Ergo, the local congresscritter found a way to bail out both Hormel and the union:  Insert an earmark in the 1000+ page Porkulus bill (which President Hoipenchange told us was sooooo important that READING it was not important) and wait.

Sure enough. Hormel gets to dump 760,000 lbs of SLOP, AND gets paid $4/lb for it!

Congressional Distict CA-34 is currently infested by one Lucille Roybal-Allard and staff, who apparently know how to care for major campaign contributors.

Party affiliation: Yes, she is, (Evil Government Party)

h/t Glenn Reynolds

addendum: If the GOP had any hopes of relevancy at all, one of them would insert an earmark in the next boondoggle bill to ship all 3/4 million lbs of this garbage cross-country in non-refrigerated trucks and dump half of it in Reid's office and rest in Pelosi's.

UPDATES!!!!

The hits just keep on a-comin'!

From Evil Government party stalwart Jerrold Nadler (AKA Jabba the Congressman) NY-8:

$350k to repair a DUMBWAITER.

http://www.recovery.gov/?q=content/contracts-recipient-summary&id=36-VA243RA0565&primeid=545

Evil Government Party rep Marcia Fudge (OH-11):

$1.5 mill for mozzarella cheese (must be one helluva pizza!)

http://www.recovery.gov/?q=content/contracts-recipient-summary&id=12-AGDPDVVDOC02503&primeid=36

Stupid Government Party rep John Kline (MN-02):

$5.7 million for "process cheese"

http://www.recovery.gov/?q=content/contracts-recipient-summary&id=12-AGDPDVVDOC02502&mode=details&primeid=35

(Disclosure: before I was requested to "take one for the team," I brokered Bongard's Cheese.)

Evil Government Party rep Timoth Walz (MN-01):

$16.7 million for "canned pork"  (Talk about truth in advertising!!!)

http://www.recovery.gov/?q=content/contracts-recipient-summary&id=12-AG3J14120297195&mode=details&primeid=30

Bi-partisanship!!! Stupid Government Party rep Randy Neugebauer (TX-19) and Evil Government Party rep Charlie Gonzales (TX-20) combine their efforts: 

$1.5 million TO FIX A DOOR (project is in Neugebauer's district, contractor in Gonzales')

http://www.recovery.gov/?q=content/contracts-recipient-summary&id=57-FA466106D0006&primeid=1400

Evil Government Party rep Neil Abercrombie (HI-01):

A cool $half-mill to install (1) - one each - TRAFFIC LIGHT

http://www.recovery.gov/?q=content/contracts-recipient-summary&id=57-FA521509C0011&primeid=1041

TEA Party, anyone?

[Flummoxed Lummox]

 

[Jeremy Roenick]

AV, as Plumber would say... "pay your damn taxes!"

Let's make sure that these vitally important stimulus projects get the funding they need.   

[NCVol]

I did notice the 350k dumbwaiter was at the VA, the 1.5 mill door was at Dyess AFB.  The 500k traffic light at Hickam AFB.

And we might guess who gets fed the cheese and canned pork.  

Not sure why they don't classify those expenditures for 'national security' purposes and then we'd all be fine with the extra billions going to the defense dept.