All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

Even as politicians decry pork barrel politics and complain of wasteful federal spending, both Democrats and Republicans have requested to insert billions of dollars in earmarks into a defense spending bill for companies that gave them millions in campaign contributions.

Yesterday, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense approved (PDF) the fiscal-year 2010 defense appropriations bill. The bill includes 1,080 earmarks worth $2.7 billion dollars requested from the full House of Representatives.

Before the subcommittee approved the bill, its members specifically requested more than $1.6 billion in earmarks for their campaign contributors, according to the nonpartisan watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense.

The group reports that all 18 members of the subcommittee requested funds for companies and organizations that donated money, either through employees or a political action committee, to their campaigns. Those entities donated nearly $1 million to the members.

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On his fifty-first day in office, President Obama signed the $410 omnibus spending bill that came under fire because it came with potentially-unnecessary earmarks.

Despite ordering a review of his predecessor’s use of signing statements, the president issued a signing statement with the bill saying certain provisions “raise constitutional concerns” and may not be followed.

He also discussed earmarks, noting that they can be useful but also “have been used as a vehicle for waste, fraud, and abuse.” He vowed to reform the earmarking process and said the administration will eliminate earmarks determined to have “no legitimate public purpose.”

The president also created a council on women and girls. He noted lingering inequality between men and women and said that ““when any of our citizens cannot fulfill their potential because of factors that have nothing to do with their talent, their character, their work ethic, that says something about the state of our democracy.”

Below, check out Chip Reid’s CBS Evening News report on the president’s signing of the bill and comments on earmarks.

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Noting that the $410 billion omnibus spending bill passed by Congress last night is “imperfect,” President Obama this morning spoke on the topic of earmarks, the inclusion of which in the bill was a rallying point for Republican opposition.

The president said he plans to sign the spending bill despite the presence of earmarks “because it is necessary for the ongoing functions of government” – though, notably, he did not hold a public signing ceremony.

The president said some earmarks are legitimate. “Done right,” he said, “earmarks give legislators the opportunity to direct federal money to worthy projects that benefit people in their district, and that’s why I have opposed their outright elimination.”

In a shot aimed largely at Republicans, he also said he finds “it ironic that some of those who railed the loudest against this bill because of earmarks actually inserted earmarks of their own – and will tout them in their own states and districts.”

Still, he said, “earmarks have been used as a vehicle for waste, fraud, and abuse.” He said he viewed his signing of the spending bill as “a departure point for more far-reaching change” and called for reforms to prevent earmark abuse in the future.

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At an event this morning, President Obama again demanded that the government he now heads “turn the tide on an era of fiscal irresponsibility.”

But his credibility on the issue is at risk if he goes ahead with plans to sign the $410 billion spending bill now making its way to final passage in Congress.

The measure is rife with earmarks – special spending provisions attached by members of Congress, usually to benefit a home district project. There are 8,570 earmarks on this bill that if enacted will cost taxpayers $7.7 billion.

The White House says the legislation is leftover from last year and that President Obama will work to reduce future wasteful spending.

In other words, the White House says the president will really get tough on spending right after he looks the other way and green lights $410 billion in spending for the current fiscal year.

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