Shutdown Winnings: Billions in Earmarks for Coke-Driven Moby Dick Theatre, Horse Therapy, “Gay Utopia,” and More. By OpenTheBooks (11/24/25, link below)

Please read the article. You may be outraged at what your federal legislators are doing for their districts at your expense.

Our thoughts…

• Earmarks must be banned.

• Bills must stick to ONE subject only and be no more than ~10 pages.

• Each bill must contain a quiz about the bill’s contents and impact, which legislators must complete and turn in before voting.

From the introduction:

While the government was shut down in October, members of Congress were acting like the fate of American health care, defense and more hung in the balance. But behind the scenes they had still been fighting to secure cash for pet projects like elephant statues, squash courts and thousands of other earmarks.

The shutdown finally ended when H.R. 5371 was signed into law on November 12. Federal employees were out of work and food stamps were in jeopardy, but lawmakers still found time to stuff 862 earmarks worth $2.4 billion into the bill, according to Open the Books’ review of federal disclosures.