corporate subsidized boondoggle that has cost taxpayers $ 1.2 billion in earmarks since 2004 . It is estimated to cost at least $ 2.9 billion more until its completion . Defenders argue that paying GE and Rolls Royce to develop a second engine for Air Force fighters will stimulate competition in the defense industry and bring down costs in the long run while protecting jobs in the short run . Critics point out that crony capitalism ca n't create a true free market in the defense industry -- it 's the equivalent of diet hucksters who claim you can eat yourself fitter . This is about money : pork barrel politics hiding under the noble banner of national defense . Here 's how the sordid story unfolded : An anonymous earmark was added to the defense authorization bill , requesting $ 485 million in new funds for the alternate engine program , despite a much-ballyhooed moratorium on earmarks going to for-profit entities -LRB- agreed to by Democrats -RRB- , and a total ban on earmark requests agreed to by Republicans for fiscal year 2011 . In reaction , a small bipartisan group of members of Congress -- led by Democrat
New York -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- In a time of voter anger at unsustainable government spending and Washington hypocrisy , here 's a story that should get your blood up . Last week , the House of Representatives considered eliminating a nearly half-billion dollar earmark that was snuck into a defense authorization bill . But members of both parties voted to keep the corporate pork in the bill -- despite a supposed moratorium on earmarks and despite that the Pentagon has repeatedly said it does n't want the money . Only in Washington would bureaucracy be force-fed a project it does n't want or need . But so far , we have n't seen this contempt for taxpayer dollars make its way to protest signs or talk radio driven talking points . That 's because President Obama opposes the earmark and the Republican congressional leadership voted for it . This does n't fit neatly into the hyperpartisan narrative of screaming about socialism -- in which Republicans bewail overspending by Democrats -- but it 's a perfect illustration of how deep the dysfunction is in Washington . At issue is the alternate engine for the Joint Strike Fighter platform , a