Original Article Tucson prison makes list of federal 'pork' projects Apr. 24, 2006 12:00 AM Some call it "pork." Earlier this month, the ever-diligent watchdogs at the Citizens Against Government Waste in Washington released their list of what they consider "pork" projects in the federal budget. That annual report, dubbed a "Pig Book," lists nearly 10,000 items put into appropriations bills for this fiscal year that its says weren't scrutinized during normal congressional procedures or required to meet grant requirements. Most of the items are lawmakers' "earmarks," special pet projects that critics say help to drive up the costs of government in often wasteful ways. The "Pig Book's" details were once again sucked up by the media and dispensed like candy. Why not? How could $550,000 for a Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Wash., or $500,000 for the Sparta Teapot Museum in Sparta, N.C., not be egregious examples of our government spending run amok? Who needs more details? Or better yet, how about $37.6 million for a federal penitentiary in Tucson? Huh? Yep. That prison money is listed in the "Pig Book," too. In fact, it's a big chunk of the total $228.1 million in more than 70 total projects that Arizonans are porking out on, according to the "Pig Book." Only the $90 million listed as going to capital investment grants for the new Metro light-rail system outdoes it in this state, pork-dollarwise. But wait a minute! A quick telephone call to the Federal Bureau of Prisons provides more details. "That $37.6 million is for salaries and expenses - funding needed to activate the newly constructed penitentiary," explains bureau spokeswoman Carla Wilson. That sure doesn't sound much like wasteful "pork" or Arizona selfishness. The folks at Citizens Against Government Waste acknowledge they never look into such trivial details. Their aim is to simply list items they find in the budget that did not go through "normal" congressional procedures or grant requirements. In this case, the $37.6 million was not a budget request, but was added by the Senate. So, that makes it "Pig Book" material, according to the group. Pederson ad Democrat Jim Pederson has fired a new broadside at Republican Sen. Jon Kyl in their duel for Kyl's U.S. Senate seat, getting help from an unlikely source: Sen. John McCain, Kyl's fellow Arizona Republican and campaign co-chair. Pederson on Friday started airing a 30-second television ad focusing on the national immigration debate and quoting McCain saying Kyl's immigration plan "borders on fantasy." The comment was lifted from a July 2005 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in which McCain derided a bill sponsored by Kyl and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, that would make 11 million to 12 million undocumented immigrants now in the United States return home before qualifying for guest worker status. "To think that they're going to come out of the shadows and say, 'Send me back to Guatemala; I've been living in Phoenix for 50 years,' borders on fantasy," McCain said then. Shortly after the ad started airing Friday, Kyl's campaign released a written statement from McCain in which he said he was "disappointed that my name is being used in an attack ad." "While Jon Kyl and I have different approaches to immigration reform, we both share the common goal of passing comprehensive immigration reform and believe that a bill should get to the Senate floor for a final vote," McCain's statement said. "I continue to strongly support Jon Kyl and am proud to serve as his campaign chairman." McCain could not be reached for further comment. Immigration has become an important battleground in the Senate race. Kyl held an open-ended discussion with reporters to discuss his plan last Monday, while Pederson unveiled his own Thursday that looked suspiciously like McCain's. Pederson knows Kyl is hard-pressed to publicly criticize McCain's proposal, since McCain not only endorses his re-election, but is something of a national political icon. Steele visits Arizona Maryland's Republican Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, a U.S. Senate candidate, will be appearing with Rep. J.D. Hayworth, R-Ariz., in Scottsdale today. Steele is to be the keynote speaker at Hayworth's Fourth-Annual Congressional Minority Business Summit. The event is from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Lehi Boys and Girls Club on the Salt River Reservation. Earlier this year, Steele found himself in controversy when at a Feb. 9 appearance before the Baltimore Jewish Council, he seemed to compare stem-cell research to experiments done on Jews by Nazis. According to a transcript of his remarks posted on the Washington Post's Web site, Steele told the group: "Look, you of all folks know what happens when people decide they want to experiment on human beings, when they want to take your life and use it as a tool." In apologizing later, Steele noted he did not specifically mention the Holocaust, but that he was sorry about his remarks. - Billy House and Pat Flannery Reach the reporter at billy.house@arizoanrepublic.com or 1-(202)-906-8136.