Another Thanksgiving has arrived, and our thoughts naturally turn to the big, plump turkey that will adorn our table tomorrow. And while we are certainly thankful for the turkey on which we’ll dine, Congress has given us some turkeys this year that taxpayers could do without. Subsidies to big businesses and goodies to pad the waistline of special interests were plentiful, all of which, like a plump turkey, should never fly.

The Fat Farm Bill – With farm crops at record-high prices, the U.S. House of Representatives passed its re-write of the farm bill back in July, which is little more than a recycling of the old subsidy-heavy legislation. Since 1995, more than $165 billion has been funneled to farm states, with annual costs to taxpayers exceeding $20 billion in many years. The Senate will likely wait until next year to take up consideration of the farm bill.

Million Dollar Oil Royalty Loophole- In October, while oil prices were nearing $100 a barrel, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, the second-largest oil and natural-gas producer in the U.S., won a court decision arguing that it doesn’t have to pay taxpayers for oil and gas it removed from federal waters.

Oil and gas companies lease taxpayer-owned lands and waters from the federal government to drill for oil and gas.  In return for this right, they give taxpayers a percentage of the revenue generated from the oil and gas that is extracted. Congress needs to make sure that Anadarko pays their fair share.

Nuclear Power Loan Guarantees – Lawmakers created a new loan guarantee program run by the Department of Energy (DOE) for nuclear power and other energy sources called “innovative technologies” in the 2005 energy bill. This fall Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) inserted language in the new Senate energy bill that cuts Congress out of the process and hands DOE a blank check for loan guarantees. If enacted, the Senate bill will exempt the loan guarantee program from current oversight law – removing the minimal financial safeguards in place.

Gutting of Earmark Disclosure – In the wake of the last election, transparency was the hot new Washington buzzword. Disregarding Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) strong opposition, Senators unanimously passed a bill to require disclosure of the beneficiaries and purpose of each earmark, require that the information be searchable and online, and that each Senator stipulate that neither they nor their family have a financial interest in a project.

Then, later in the year and behind closed doors, leadership gutted the original bill by subtly changing the disclosure language. Now, the only documents that will be publicly released are the worthless statements from lawmakers that the earmarks they requested won’t result in personal financial gain. Taxpayers remain in the dark.

Lawmakers need to give thanks and start remembering the voters who got them there in the first place, rather than the special interest campaign cash they rely on to keep them in power.  Just yesterday, the President held his annual White House ceremony where he pardoned two turkeys from the carving knife. In this case, however, lawmakers need stop stuffing themselves with special interest gravy and give these legislative turkeys the axe.