Pork Can
As Congress prepares to pass a $900 billion COVID-19 stimulus bill rolled into a consolidated appropriations package - with funding for assistance for households and businesses, along with vaccine distribution and other pandemic-related measures, the bill also includes a ton of pork per usual.

We already know about the $600 checks for each adult and dependent. This time, however, 'mixed-status' households where eligible citizens live with illegal immigrants, will not only receive payments - they can retroactively claim benefits after being left out of the last round.



The bill also includes $300 per week in enhanced unemployment benefits, and would extend unemployment to 50 weeks for both state and federal programs, vs. the standard 26 weeks.
Congressional aides
© Congressional aides
Illustration via WSJ.com
And now, on to the pork... which includes billions to foreign countries, US military weapons purchases which go above and beyond their budgets, $40 million for the Kennedy Center, and nearly $200 million so that federal HIV/AIDS workers overseas can buy cars and car insurance, among other things.

FOREIGN HANDOUTS:

A minimum of $3.3 billion in grants to Israel.


Also included is $453 million to Ukraine, on top of the $400 million Trump eventually released. No word on how much of that goes to the 'big guy.'


$10 million for "gender programs" in Pakistan.


$1.3 billion to Egypt, and $700 million to Sudan.



$135 million to Burma, $85.5 million to Cambodia, $1.4 billion for an "Asia Reassurance Initiative Act," and $130 million to Nepal.


Bombs away

$4 billion for Navy weapons procurement, $2 billion for Space Force and $2 billion for Air Force missiles.



Bureaucratic bonanza and other malarkey

$208 million to upgrade the Census Bureau's computer systems (which couldn't have waited until the next count in 2030?).


$40 million for the Kennedy Center, and funding to discourage teenagers from drinking and hooking up.


$193 million for federal HIV/AIDS workers to buy cars and car insurance overseas, and a feminist museum.


Funding for a commission to educate consumers "about the dangers associated with using or storing portable fuel containers for flammable liquids near an open flame." (What?)


Just remember, $600 is a significant amount...