Republican budget management at its very best

From the American Progress Action Fund Report:

ETHICS -- CONGRESSIONAL PORK PROJECTS FORCE NASA TO SLASH SPACE PROGRAMS: In the past few years, congressional earmarks have ballooned. In fiscal year 1996, there were 958 earmarks; in fiscal year 2005, there were 14,000. These pork projects are even affecting NASA, forcing the agency to "slash science, engineering and education programs to pay for billions of dollars in congressional pet projects, most of which have little to do with the agency's mission to explore space." While President Bush has expressed his commitment to NASA and space exploration, Congress has undermined both goals. Since 2001, "Congress has directed the space agency to spend more than $3 billion on special projects, most of them small endeavors sought by individual lawmakers for the benefit of their home districts." Projects have included a "sprawling headquarters building for a non-profit research group in West Virginia" created by Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV), who is under fire for ethics violations; a "website and laboratory for the Gulf of Maine Aquarium;" and construction or renovation of dozens of museums, planetariums and college science labs. As a result of these pork projects, NASA may have to cut robotic space probes, education programs, the International Space Station, and missions to the moon.