Just when we thought things couldn't get more bizarre, Michael K. Simpson proposed the “U.S. Sheep Experiment Station ARS Infrastructure Improvement,” giving $7,750,000 of taxpayer dollars to give Idaho’s sheep some genetic upgrades. To be clear, that is no sheep-ish request.
“The funding is designated to modernize a century- old critical research facility, the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station (USSES) and expansion of research-building capacity. The USSES is a USDA, Agriculture Research Service (ARS) unit near Dubois, Idaho. The USSES is an asset for grazing lands and sheep industry genetic research, and the repository of over five decades of sage grouse research. The century-old infrastructure is a limiting factor for the USSES to effectively accomplish its research agenda.”
All that funding will also go to the storage of bird data, specifically, “over five decades of sage grouse research.” Unlike the sage grouse, which is not known for its endurance flight, tax dollars are practically soaring out the window in Dubois, Idaho, where the recipient, the USSES, wants to streamline their research agendas.
The wool is being pulled over tax-payers' eyes. The amount of money which the USSES needs begs a number of important questions. Could this multi-million dollar project perhaps be an attempt to give sheep super powers? Are they trying to genetically reprogram sheep into growing golden wool? Ladies and gentlemen, what is going on in Idaho??? Put simply this is a baaaaahd earmark.