It's a Plane, it's a Byrd...

Senator Robert Byrd (D – W. Virginia) is our first D.I.G.

He convinced the Legislature of his home state to put up a statue of himself at the state Capitol Rotunda. Psst...Don’t tell anyone, but this is against the law. According WV law, you can’t do this shit until you’ve been dead for at least 50 years.

Here’s some more info

And here is how he has succeeded in wasting YOUR taxpayer dollars in 2006:

$4,500,000 for the Geographic Information System Center of Excellence at West Virginia University; $2,045,000 for the Appalachian Fruit Laboratory in Kearneysville; $860,000 for the Appalachian Small Farmer Outreach Program; $750,000 for multiflora rose control; $690,000 for agriculture waste utilization research; $180,000 for turfgrass research; $160,000 for poultry litter composting; and $160,000 for feed efficiency research. According to USDA testimony, the feed efficiency project was supposed to be completed in 2005, and the research was being conducted at the West Virginia University Performance Bull Testing Facility in Wardensville. Now, that’s appropriate!

$41,000,000 added by the Senate for Byrd Honors Scholarships. The scholarships, named after Senate Appropriations Committee ranking member Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), are meant to encourage secondary school students to excel in their lessons and go on to a postsecondary institution. However, according to Expect More, a program that evaluates the efficiency of government programs, students are given no real incentives, as there are no requirements that must be met or set goals to be achieved. Absent any defined standards, there is no way of knowing whether students who received this aid ever really “qualified” for the “coveted” scholarships. Furthermore, the law of this program does not allow the states to use any funding to determine whether or not the program is succeeding. This program gets an “F,” for failure to set standards and follow up on effectiveness.

$1,870,000 added in conference for the MountainMade Foundation in the state of Senate Appropriations Committee ranking member Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) and House SSJC Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.). According to MountainMade’s website: “While the isolation of the mountains helps to preserve our state’s largely unspoiled natural beauty, it can also make it difficult for our talented artists and craftspeople to gain access to the best markets in which to sell their work. In the early 1990’s Congressman Alan B. Mollohan (D-W.V.) realized that, through the use of technology, West Virginia artists and craftspeople could overcome some of these challenges and gain more exposure for their work by promoting their creations on the World Wide Web. The Robert C. Byrd National Technology Transfer Center at Wheeling Jesuit University took on that project and developed the initial web site. In November 2001, the non-profit MountainMade Foundation assumed administration of the program.” Craftily, the organization is still soaking the taxpayers.

2005
$4,418,000 for the GIS Center of Excellence at West Virginia University; $3,638,000 for the Appalachian Fruit Laboratory in Kearneysville; $860,000 for Appalachian small farmer outreach; $711,000 for aquaculture product and marketing development; $654,000 for agriculture waste utilization research; $569,000 for water pollutants research; $300,000 for the Potomac and Ohio River Basin Soil Nutrient Project; and $150,000 for turfgrass research in Beaver.

$25,000,000 for the Marmet Lock on the Kanawha River; $1,000,000 for the Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory Training Facility at Camp Dawson ($5,000,000 for planning, design, and construction and $4,000,000 for physical improvements); $6,600,000 for Bluestone Lake dam safety; and $59,000 for Island Creek at Logan.

$1,000,000 for freshwater mussel recovery and the Wild Fish Propagation Center at White Sulphur Springs National Fish Hatchery.

$200,000 for streetscape improvements in Berkeley Springs. Berkeley Springs, a cozy little mountain town just two hours from Washington, D.C., offers visitors "state-of-the-art spas, unique shops and local arts, all surrounded by West Virginia's splendid outdoors."

$4,296,600 for the Vandalia Heritage Foundation, Inc. (which happened to be created by Rep. Mollohan); $2,037,000 for Glenville State College for the construction of a new campus community center and the planning and design of a new science center; $1,250,000 for the McDowell County Commission for infrastructure and site development at Indian Ridge Industrial Park; $750,000 for Beckley for downtown revitalization; $657,000 for the Greenbrier Valley Economic Development Corporation in Lewisburg for facilities construction; $97,000 for the Strand Theatre Preservation Society in Moundsville for theatre renovations; $97,000 for the Tyler County Commission for facilities construction and renovations; and $72,750 for the Wetzel County 4-H Camp in Martinsville for facilities renovation and buildout.
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