Because it was a "boondoggle?"

"Why was Congress, before it wandered off to vacation, engaged in slashing the budget for correcting some of the gaping holes in the area's flood protection?"

New York Times Editorial, September 1, 2005.

"The bill would shovel $17 billion at the Army Corps of Engineers for flood control and other water-related projects. [...] Among these projects is a $2.7 billion boondoggle on the Mississippi River . . . "

New York Times editorial, April 13, 2005, opposing funding for a New Orleans levee project.