The 2010 Congressional Pig Book: A summary

[cnn-photo-caption image=
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/POLITICS/04/14/earmarks/art.pig.file.afp.gi.jpg caption="The CAGW identifies 'pork' projects, compiling them into a 'Congressional Pig Book' every year."]

Citizens Against Government Waste

The Congressional Pig Book is Citizens Against Government Waste's annual compilation of the pork-barrel projects in the federal budget. This year's book identified 9,129 projects at a cost of $16.5 billion in the 12 Appropriations Acts for the fiscal year 2009.

A "pork" project is a line-item in an appropriations bill that designates tax dollars for a specific purpose in circumvention of established budgetary procedures. To qualify as pork, a project must meet one of seven criteria that were developed in 1991 by CAGW and the Congressional Porkbusters Coalition.

Read More about this year's Congressional Pig Book and pork projects here.