Senator Brings Money Home
By JOSELYN KING Political WriterWHEELING - Some outside West Virginia have nicknamed U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd "The Prince of Pork." But within his home state, that "pork" is seen as a meaty and valuable investment in the local communities.
Byrd's influence in national politics is legendary - 50 years in the U.S. Senate; 49 years on the Senate Appropriations Committee; and $2.26 billion brought to West Virginia in just the past eight years, according to the watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste.
The group sets the total of earmarks coming to West Virginia through Byrd at $3.3 billion since 1991.
Byrd, D-W.Va., has announced he will be stepping down as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Jan. 6. He will be replaced by Sen. Daniel Inouye, 84, of Hawaii.
Byrd's influence is strong in the Northern Panhandle, as figures provided by his office indicate he has earmarked $270 million specifically to local projects since 1991.
Figures pertaining to just how many dollars he has brought to West Virginia and the Northern Panhandle were provided by Byrd's office and by Citizens Against Government Waste - though some West Virginians don't consider "Byrd money" as wasteful spending.
Much of the money has been for road improvements and development at the colleges in the state. Among the local institutions to receive money courtesy of Byrd are Wheeling Jesuit University, West Liberty State College and Bethany College.
Wheeling Jesuit has benefited most from Byrd's earmarks, as during the 1990s taxpayers dumped nearly $50 million into new building projects at the school during the presidency of the Rev. Thomas Acker. This resulted in the creation of the Robert C. Byrd National Technology Transfer Center; the Erma Ora Byrd Center for Educational Technologies; and the Thomas S. Acker, S.J., Science Center.
Byrd also earmarked operational funding for agencies at Wheeling Jesuit for several years. That funding normally came in around $7 million annually, with the goal being to get the NTTC and other agencies self-sufficient.
The largest single project taxpayers have funded in the area through Byrd's efforts is the U.S. 22 bypass through Weirton, valued at $42.5 million in 1991. The 2.8 mile section of roadway has been named the "Robert C. Byrd Expressway."
Another large project funded with tax dollars is the new Federal Building in Wheeling. The senator appropriated $7.5 million for renovations to the facility in the early 1990s and then secured an additional $29.3 million in the mid-1990s for a new annex.
Oglebay Park also has benefited from Byrd's efforts over the decades, as many projects at the city park were developed with the help of federal money.
G. Randolph Worls, chief executive officer of the Oglebay Foundation, said this money has helped Oglebay become a self-supporting, publicly-owned facility.
Today, just 1 percent of the park's budget comes from taxpayer dollars, according to Worls.
He credits federal funding obtained by the park for Wilson Lodge as creating 200 to 300 jobs there.
"The money for the initial investments at Wilson Lodge was the catalyst for the funds that have made the park system self-sustaining," Worls said. The funding "has allowed us to bring the park to where it is now."
Byrd also was instrumental in helping Oglebay Park in the early 1970s to obtain Appalachian Regional Commission funding that led to the first phase of the Good Zoo, Worls noted.
Worls estimates the park has received more than $10 million in federal funding through Byrd since the 1960s.
"All the investments were good for the community, and because of them we have been able to create cash flow to sustain the park," he said. "We're not getting money for the sake of getting money.
"Sen. Byrd's intent is to place money where it can be leveraged, and he likes to see a return on the investment."
Hydie Friend is executive director of the Wheeling National Heritage Area Corp., another local organization to benefit from funding obtained through Byrd. To date, Byrd has secured about $27 million in funding for the Wheeling National Heritage Area Corp., according to information provided by the senator's office. More than $5.1 million went toward the restoration of the Wheeling Artisan Center alone.
Other WNHAC projects funded through tax dollars are the Robert C. Byrd Intermodal Transportation Center in Wheeling and the Wheeling Heritage Port.
Friend said the city of Wheeling is designated as a national heritage area because of Byrd's efforts.
"More than being about what it means to this organization ... it's about what this has meant to the community," Friend said of the national heritage area designation.
WNHAC also was the first investor in the Wheeling Stamping Building on Main Street. The organization's money was used to replace windows, roofing and masonry that were then part of the decaying structure.
After the building was renovated, it became home to support offices for the global law firm of Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe.
"It's more important to look at this money as community investments," Friend said. "That is where Sen. Byrd's purpose and intention was, and these have helped economic development."
Money from Byrd also has passed through WNHAC to West Virginia Independence Hall on 16th Street in downtown Wheeling, Friend noted. In 2003, the West Virginia State Museum received $95,000 for a Civil War regimental flag collection that is housed in the hall.
Also in 2003, West Liberty State College received two earmarks as a result of Byrd's efforts $1.7 million to equip its residence halls with Internet access, and another $500,000 for science and information programs.
The money came before the tenure of current WLSC President Robin Capehart, but he sees today that the money proved valuable to the college.
"It was obviously beneficial," he said. "It allowed us to enhance the technology that we can offer students."
Byrd, who turned 91 in November, will remain a member of the Appropriations Committee.
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robojock
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12-03-08 7:01 PM
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I actually semi-agree with you attodh, but the problem exists at both levels, at the level that ***** pork, and at the level where people have forgotten how to be successful. This is much like a drug dealer and drug user both needing arrested.
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GETACLUE
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12-02-08 7:33 PM
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ROBO ...With your outstanding background you would be a very sought after commodity in Sarah Palins' ALASKA. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO MOVE THERE AND DON"T LET THE DOOR HIT YA!!!!
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GETACLUE
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12-02-08 7:27 PM
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Beckers was not chased out they retired and had no buyers for their business
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EllisWyatt
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12-02-08 6:16 PM
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Why is it that "economic development" in Wheeling is somehow defined as how much money Byrd can steal for us? When you get back more in spending (or tax credits) than you pay in taxes, you are on WELFARE. Too many government jobs. Not enough high paying private sector jobs. Europe has unlimited Muslim immigration, lax borders, socialized medicine, high tax rates, militant labor unions and no new economic creations. Europe is also a corpse on life support. Do we want this for the US? West Virginia would do well to push for tort reform, open shop, lower taxes, less complicated regulations, higher educational standards and targeted infastructure spending. If these things do not come to pass, private sector investment will be virtually nil.
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robojock
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12-01-08 11:56 PM
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Byrd is part of the problem. He and the insane thinking of West Virginians has turned the state into a welfare state.
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atoddh
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12-01-08 11:30 PM
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ROBO: It is not Byrd.The tens of millions squandered in the Ohio Valley were requested by the locals and squandered by the locals.No new high paid manufacturing or high tech jobs have been developed.Yet this could have happened and did elsewhere (with Byrd money.)Note that Downtown is much worse off than prior to the millions spent.Several million in Federal money was spentby locals to chase out business(eg Beckers,MH&M etc.)for the "Victorian Mall." The public really needs to question the locals in charge(mentioned in the article)- not Byrd.
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robojock
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12-01-08 10:00 PM
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Thank you Byrd, thank you for making us all look like incompetent welfare recipients. Yeah!
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wvhoopie
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12-01-08 7:26 PM
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Thank you Senator Byrd. You have brought in many more dollars than what our state sends to DC and we really needed that. Thanks so much for being a great representative of West Virginia. We will mill you when you leave office.
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DisplacedWVian
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12-01-08 5:51 PM
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wv26003: It's the principle, not the party! I don't care what the politician's political affiliation is, I care about the government believing that it has the right to stick its grubby mitts in my pocket and taking what it pleases. Then the 536 power brokers in Washington turn around and dole it back out how they see fit. I don't know where you're getting your contribution figures, but if that is all that the government is taking from your paycheck, then God bless ya (if you believe in God). For the overwhelming majority of working stiffs out there, the amount "withheld' each pay is significantly more. I'd be willing to bet that if you took home what they actually made (the GROSS), and then had to sit down each pay period and write out checks to the various government entities that want a portion of the money that you have earned, that you would be singing a different tune. Then again, maybe not.
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wvforsale
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12-01-08 4:17 PM
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WV26003, How about every other Senator and Congressman wish list you have contributed too! The "buck" don't stop at Byrd's doorstep!
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atoddh
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12-01-08 4:05 PM
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Senator Byrd's influence could have been - and could still be - used to create well paid manufacturing/high tech jobs in the Ohio Valley as has been done in the Morgantown-Clarksburg area(which is growing.) Downtown has actually declined with the Federal injection of tens of millions. The area has declined in general as well.This is not the fault of the Senator but rather the local priorities in funding requests.
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wv26003
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12-01-08 8:38 AM
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If I had to pay the feds a one-time fee of $12 so that US 22 could be built in Wheeling, I'm fine with that. If I had to pay one-time fee of $1 so the Intermodal could be built, I'm fine with that. If I had to pay a one-time fee of $3 so that the Wilson Lodge expansion could be built, I'm fine with that. That extra $16 in my pay check wouldn't have gone as far as how the Ohio Valley benefitted from those dollars. Then again, I'm not a Republican.
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DisplacedWVian
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12-01-08 4:59 AM
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Wouldn't it have been nice if the American taxpayers would have gotten to keep more of their paychecks in the first place, and decided for themselves how best to spend the extra money that they EARNED. Instead the money was confiscated by the power brokers in Washington D.C. and redistributed back to people through pork-barrel spending projects that megalomaniacs such as Robert C. Byrd could take credit for and thus be able to continually be re-elected because a poor stated such as WV couldn't financially afford to vote him out. Wake up America. The founding fathers never intended the federal government to operate this way. That is why they, in their infinite wisdom, put specific limitations on the role(s) of the federal government. We have let them down by giving away so many of the rights they fought so hard to preserve.
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PCGS70
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12-01-08 1:31 AM
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BAIL ME OUT! BAIL ME OUT!
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EllisWyatt
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11-30-08 9:57 PM
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"They came to my office with a request and I gave them twenty one point four million dollars, yea man! TWENTY ONE POINT FOUR MILLION DOLLARS-yessir!" "West Virginia has always had four friends," Byrd said, "God Almighty, Sears Roebuck, Carter's Liver Pills, and Robert C. Byrd." Why is KKK Byrd directing tax dollars to a Catholic college? Why not put government money into public colleges? Tax dollars should not benefit tax exempt religious groups. As a Jesuit graduate, I can say, with absolute certainty, that this money has done nothing to create private sector jobs or bring in donations to the college endowment, which is less than $18 million after 54 years of existence! Tom Acker, former president of WJC and pretend priest, once compared Byrd with Moses, and his theft of tax dollars for the benefit of WJC with the parting of the Red Sea!
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Destroyallmonsters
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11-30-08 9:53 PM
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There is nothing like a Robert Byrd article to bring out the howling lunatics.
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susanTtalker
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11-30-08 8:51 PM
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Pork is not good for ANYONE'S health, whether it is a country or an individual. All it does is clog the arteries on either one.
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ktbass
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11-30-08 8:40 PM
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"I'm big daddy!" "I'm the oldest thing around here, oudder than the buildings!" LOL!!! PORK "12!!!
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tromba99
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11-30-08 8:19 PM
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I love the fools in here saying things like "look at the jobs" etc... WHAT JOBS? We are last in EVERYTHING. If "pork" brought prosperity we would be the richest state in the union, but it doesn't. He has kept our state poor and under his control. When Byrd first went to Washington WV ranked around 30th in average income, NOW we are always somewhere between 48 and 50. Well done..... And you idiots keep sending this useless fossil back. If he could learn something about economics, we could depend on our own industry instead of "charity" from states that DO understand economics.
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EllisWyatt
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11-30-08 8:17 PM
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Taking money that belongs to someone else is theft, whether or not the system allows it. You have no right to the wealth of your neighbor. If you disagree, please post your home address and I'll be sure to come on over first thing in the morning and take your car and your furniture. Byrd is a disgrace and has always been so. He claims to be a Constitutional scholar yet he supports pork spending that is not permitted by the Constitution. He has stepped all over the 10th Amendment. He voted against both black Supreme Court justices and personally filibustered the Civil Rights Amendment. He has used the word "******" on national TV and has written letters in support of the Klan AFTER he began serving in D.C. WV is near the bottom in unemployment, poverty, literacy, out of wedlock birth, obesity and business investment. What has Byrd done after 50 years in office? In the private sector, you don't get 50 years of second chances.
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Blackrock
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11-30-08 6:59 PM
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Remember when his campaign strategy consisted of going on all the local West Virginia programs and playing the fiddle? LOL
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hope4valley
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11-30-08 6:19 PM
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Blackrock, that was my point in the first place. Congress is like Survivor these days, and Byrd was the King.
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Blackrock
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11-30-08 6:00 PM
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Pork is always pork whether it is spent in your backyard of not. The King of Pork has played the system. Problem is the system is broke.
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GETACLUE
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11-30-08 5:52 PM
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SKWheeling..."a heritage port that's under water more than half the year;"..... WRONG WRONG WRONG. I call B.S. on that statement.The waterfront is the best money that has been spent in Wheeling.
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wvforsale
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11-30-08 5:50 PM
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LTRRTL, It (pork) is actually anti-business!
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