Today, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) named Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) our August 2021 Porker of the Month for proposing a taxpayer-funded Civilian Climate Corps that would hire millions of people and cost billions of dollars.

Even though Congress has already spent trillions of dollars over the past year on emergency relief packages that have nothing to do with the COVID-19 pandemic, Sen. Markey thinks this is a good time to spend billions more on Green New Deal proposals like the Civilian Climate Corps (CCC). The CCC is supposed to be like FDR’s Civilian Conservation Corps, but this is not the Great Depression and there are more jobs available than workers to fill them. Sen. Markey’s sidekick, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) thinks the government should spend $132 billion to hire 1.5 million CCC climate activists. These CCC workers would earn at least $15 an hour plus full health benefits, housing, food, clothing, transportation, and allowance, all at the taxpayers’ expense. Sen. Markey is so enamored with the idea of spending money on these kinds of activities that he said, “Without question, the Green New Deal is in the DNA of this green [$3.5 trillion] budget resolution.”

CAGW President Tom Schatz said, “Sen. Markey’s proposed Civilian Climate Corps would allow hired ‘climate activists’ to pick up the trash and tell Americans how to think, feel, and act about climate change, all on the taxpayers’ dime. This new agency is one of the worst examples in recent memory of a government program that would force more Americans to become dependent on the government for their livelihood. Sen. Markey’s progressive ploy will cause an epic eruption of wasteful spending. For proposing an expensive, irresponsible, and ridiculous program, Sen. Markey is an easy choice for CAGW’s August Porker of the Month.”

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government. For more than two decades, Porker of the Month is a dubious honor given to lawmakers and government officials who have shown a blatant disregard for the interests of taxpayers.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210819005712/en/