Citizens for Against Government Waste

* in a truly mind-bending moment, i was watching brithume and he did a brief little expose about a 'watchdog front group called Citizens Against Government Waste - and documented how the group is funded by tobacco and other corporate interests, and is essentially a lobbying group, and not a 'watchdog' after all.

apparently Fox has it's panties in a twist because CAGW puts out an annual report about govt pork.

here's where the story gets odd.

from todays BostonGlobe:

" Almost half of the special-interest ''pork" projects targeted in the Senate's highly touted lobbying-reform bill could still be slipped quietly into spending bills without public scrutiny, because of a glaring loophole in the bill's language, according to analyses by The Boston Globe and budget watchdog groups."

ok - we can see where Fox is headed so far - but then we get this:

"The Congressional Research Service put a $64 billion price tag on earmarks in the spending bills for fiscal year 2006.

Government watchdog groups such as Taxpayers for Common Sense, as well as the Coalition Against Government Waste, which publishes a ''Pig Book" every year detailing special interest projects -- known to critics as ''pork." The groups use a more restrictive standard, and put the price at about $27 billion."

ok - kinda confusing. CRS should be the target, not the much more lenient CAGW.

but here's what i wrote in January:

"As it happens, PNACer Vin Weber sits on the board of Citizens Against Government Waste - and it seems as though he uses the organisation as a front to push the agenda of his lobbying clients. nice. Sallie Mae has paid Weber (his lobbying firm) at least $1.6 million to lobby for them. "

perhaps someone at Fox got their missages mexed and assumed that they should rail against those who rail against pork - and did some brief research and tried to out CAGW for what they really are, without realising the implications.

or something.

i'm confused.

(btw - if anyone wants a good story, look into that student loan biz - it's a brilliant mix of boehner and corruption in sandiego, with some Duke thrown in - the story is ripe for the taking - see here, here, here and here)