Porker of The Month (June 2010): Sen. Richard Shelby, Who Made Pigs Fly in Outer Space!

Reason.tv presents Citizens Against Government Waste's Porker of the Month for June 2010. CAGW makes this award to a politician or special interest who takes pork-barrel spending to new heights.

This month's winner is Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.)

The Constellation Program was intended to modernize NASA and replace the aging Space Shuttle, but has been plagued by cost overruns and blown deadlines. President Obama and NASA have proposed canceling the unsustainable program—turning instead to the emerging private space industry to oversee launches.

In response, Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) co-sponsored a measure protecting Constellation, which was attached to an emergency war funding bill. Such a measure ensures millions of taxpayer dollars will continue being funneled to politically connected NASA contractors.

Contractors like Alabama's own Radiance Technologies, which—wouldn't you know it—just happens to be one of Shelby's biggest campaign contributors.

Congratulations Sen. Shelby, you are the Porker of the Month for June 2010!

For more info on Citizens Against Government Waste and the Porker of The Month, go to

Written, produced, and narrated by Austin Bragg. Co-produced by Ted Balaker and Hawk Jensen. Approximately 1.15 minutes.

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