Dear John, The 2021 Congressional Pig Book is here! Earlier today in an exclusive online press conference, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) released the 2021 Congressional Pig Book, which exposed 285 earmarks costing taxpayers $16.8 billion in the appropriations bills that fund the federal government for fiscal year (FY) 2021. These earmarks waste vital taxpayer dollars to fund parochial and non-essential pet projects. Get your copy of the 2021 Pig Book Summary.  The number of earmarks increased by 4 percent over the 274 earmarks in FY 2020, while the total cost increased by 5.7 percent from the $15.9 billion in FY 2020. More troublingly, the $16.8 billion is 1.8 percent higher than the $16.5 billion spent in FY 2010, the last year before the earmark moratorium. Since the first Pig Book was issued in 1991, CAGW has uncovered 111,702 earmarks costing taxpayers $392.5 billion. The release of the Pig Book during tax season, as well as two days after the announcement that the monthly budget deficit reached a near-record $660 billion in March, along with the announcement of the restoration of earmarks for the FY 2022 appropriations bills, makes the publication more timely than ever. Among the egregious examples of pork-barrel waste highlighted in the 2021 Pig Book are $1.7 billion for 17 additional, unrequested F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft, a program plagued with cost overruns and delays; a record $25 million for Save America’s Treasures grants; and a record $19.7 million for the East-West Center, requested by Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii). CAGW was joined at the press conference by Sen. and Reps. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) and Kevin Hern (R-Okla.). Pre-recorded messages were also shared from Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and Reps. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.), and Ralph Norman (R-S.C.). Click here to read the 2021 Pig Book Summary. John, you can also get your own printed copy of the 2021 Congressional Pig Book Summary by making a tax-deductible contribution of $25 or more to CAGW today. | 
