Stimulus funds are literally paying for pork, plus some cheese and a dumb waiter.

Okay, I am blatantly ripping this off from Drudge, who has links to all of these items on his front page right now. Again, I am sorta lazy. And the fact that our federal government is literally spending millions of dollars in stimulus funds on pork, as well as a dumb waiter and some processed cheese, is just too humorous to pass up. Here are project descriptions (as they appear on www.recovery.gov) and funding amounts for some projects that are receiving federal stimulus funding:

1. HAM, WATER ADDED, COOKED, FROZEN, SLICED, 2-LB, funding amount $2,531,600;

2. 2 POUND FROZEN HAM SLICED, funding amount $1,191,200;

3. RECOVERY ACT-PROJECT 630A4-08-406, REPLACE AND UPGRADE THE DUMBWAITER, funding amount $351,807;

4. MOZZARELLA CHEESE, funding amount $1,562,568;

5. PROCESS CHEESE, funding amount $5,708,260; and

6. CANNED PORK, funding amount $16,784,272.

In fairness, here is the US Department of Agriculture's response to Drudge. It notes that at least some of this "pork spending" is actually food that is being purchased for local food banks that serve the poor: "The Recovery Act funds referenced in press reports allowed states to purchase ham, cheese and dairy products for these food banks, soup kitchens and food pantries that provide assistance to people who otherwise do not have access to food."

Apparently, the USDA does not appreciate Drudge's sarcasm, or is it a sense of irony. I always get the two confused.