Hogging the Trough

Congressman James Clyburn (D-SC): $3 million for "The First Tee," a program designed to teach the game of golf to young people. Though The First Tee has extensive corporate sponsors and individual donators, Clyburn said the program "will help make generals and colonels."

Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY): $1.9 million for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at The City College of New York.

Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA): $740,000 to olive fruit fly research, of which $211,000 will pay for research that takes place in Paris, France.

Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe and Congressman Thomas Allen (R-ME): $188,000 for the Lobster Institute in Maine. It is said to be a cooperative program of "research and education with the lobster industry." Among other programs, the institute has been working on an underwater "lobster cam" and touts one of its achievements as the creation of lobster biscuits for dogs.

Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV): $123,050 for a Mother's Day shrine in Grafton, W.V., which has a population of 5,489.

Congressman Virgil Goode (R-VA): $98,000 to develop a walking tour of Boydton, Va., which boasts a population of 474 and covers less than one square mile.