Clap If You Love Earmarks

Millions Of Your Tax Dollars Being Spent By Congress Members Who Purport To Want Cuts

(CBS)  When President Bush announced a crackdown on congressional earmarks this week, he got a standing ovation from both parties.

"If these items are truly worth funding, Congress should debate them in the open and hold a public vote," the president said.

One observer called it "prom night" for earmark reform, CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports.

Earmarks are grants of your tax dollars without the normal public review, often given to pet projects by members of Congress in near secrecy.

They add up to billions of dollars and, critics say, are ripe for fraud and abuse by some.

Congress is full of big earmarkers, but here's a closer look at just who was clapping at the idea of cutting them. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is acting happy, though she's hardly been shy about earmarks. Hers total an estimated $364 million this year.

What about this group of applauding Republicans? Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., is a top earmarker in the House - around $40 million this year. Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., who is under FBI investigation related to his earmarking practices, tallied roughly $136 million, including money to build a decorative arch in a neighborhood where his wife owns a home.

Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, also under investigation, once earmarked $200 million tax dollars for a so-called "Bridge to Nowhere" in Alaska. This year he topped $500 million and, well, he may be clapping, but he's one of the first to sit back down.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi didn't even pretend to applaud. She's got $87 million in earmarks under her belt this year.

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Read more from Attkisson at Couric & Co. blog.

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"Both Democrats and Republicans have taken beatings on earmarks. But at the same time, they've also gotten praise when they brought earmarks home to their districts that people in their district like," said Ryan Alexander of Taxpayers for Common Sense.

If all of this was "prom night" for earmark reform, Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., would have to be the prom king. He's led an anti-earmark crusade in Congress.

His total earmarks? Zero. On this night, he just seemed happy to have others join the dance.

[rowdytexan2]

Posted by FuzzyBear9 at 10:09 AM : Feb 02, 2008

Good idea, Fuzzy...we need a Labor Party!!!

[rowdytexan2]

Bush''s war on earmarks is a fine thing, but it makes you wonder how many earmarks were whizzed thru on legislation during the first term when the republicans had control of Congress and Bush signed legislation so fast it literally whizzed by without notice or fanfare. He decides NOW to notice these things?? He''s been in office going on 8 years!!!

What''s the matter Bush, not enough money to divert anymore for your war on terror???

Hypocrite!!!!

[jarren4]

Hirsha15, you understand a lot about how earmarks in front of the public are supposed to work and seem to think they are all voted on. I have a family member who is a congressman and I get the inside scoop. A lot of the earmarks are a type of bribe to get votes to get a bill to pass, or are slipped in at the last minute after members know they have enough votes to get the bill through the house. If they were so on the up-and-up why would the FBI be investigating Jerry Lewis and Ted Stevens (I am sure they are not the only two under investigation). There are good projects and what is being asked is that they are discussed and approved by the members before they move on. No more bribes and slipping in earmarks at the last second. It is a step but I feel that a loophole or two will easily be exploited to continue to practice porking up the bills.

[hirscha15]

I agree with hadenough43 that there are abuses. But for every "arch" there is a muesum program, vocational training, workforce development programs, roadway improvements funded as well. Members need to police themselves so that the public feels they are getting fair treatment.

[fuzzybear9]

Hello Fellow Citizens

What we need to do for Working Class Americans, and this includes about 90% of America, is establish a party for the Working Class with no fridge elements,
we need the Working Class Republican Christians of Iowa to Work with the Working Class Democrats of Illinois, and we need all the other people the Salmon
Fisherman of Alaska and the Pineapple pickers of Hawaii we need to just sit down and create our own party. We need to pick candidates that are for all of Us, and our main interest is preserving the rights of the Majority Of Americans, and not the fridge Minorities.

Now this can be difficult John Edwards was kinda on the right track, except we need to include good Small
Buisness Owners whos corporate Headquarters are located in the United States and not offshore in
the Cannary Islands, we need Doctors, Farmers, Auto Mechanics, Nurses, School Teachers, Fishermen,
Truck Drivers, Crossing Gaurds, Store Keepers,
we need everyone that works for a living.

we need to seperate ourselves and party platform away from the
Elietist Party of Washington D.C. so we need candidates that are not part of the status quo of Washington.
We need to form a party to fight the Elietist Party of John McCain and Ted Kenendy,

I have a dream that someday America will have a Party
that represents the Hard Working Class Americans
for now its just a dream but with good possiblities.

Sincerely Fuzzy Bear

HIRSCHA15

"including money to build a decorative arch in a neighborhood where his wife owns a home"

How many "respective staff" were bought and sold to get this one?

[willibus-2009]

According to FactCheck.org:
"Bush talked tough about Congressional "earmarks," but don''t expect his actions to have any immediate effect on federal spending:

By earmarks that are "not voted on by Congress," Bush means provisions that are specified in committee reports but are never part of the text of a bill. According to Steve Ellis, vice president of the spending watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense, the "vast, vast majority" of earmarks are of this type, so Bush is threatening to ignore or veto a fairly significant percentage of potential earmarks. But he''s not going to do it until fiscal year 2009. Taxpayers for Common Sense complains that Bush is "passing the buck" by vowing to get tough on next year''s bills. "[B]y not including the 2008 spending bills, the Executive Order gives Congress months to finagle their way around these changes," writes the president of the organization, Ryan Alexander."

So unless his executive order is binding upon the next President, this really isn''t any skin off his nose and amounts to little if anything in real savings.

[kengaard]

It is not that all earmarks are bad, it is that the process invites waste or worse - campaign contributions for favors. Bribes. It is true that the constitution assigns to congress the power to "provide for the general welfare of the United States," but it is questionable whether bridges to nowhere and hippie museums contribute to the general welfare.
Better than earmarks would be to return tax money to the states to allow local decision makers, more accountable to the taxpayers, to allocate expenditures.
The fundamental problem is the collective apathy - or worse - of the public. I often ask people what they think of the job their Senators in Washington are doing. The response is appalling - most (more than 50%) don''t even know who their Senator''s are!
Everyone gets the government some people deserve. One wonders if Democracy in America is doomed?

[imari16]

If congress thinks their earmark projects are so important they should use their own money. How dare they waste our tax dollars when people are losing their homes. People are working two and three jobs just to make ends meet.And our soldiers and their loved ones are paying the price for lack of medical care. A little common sense could help prioritize what is really important to taxpayers and it is obvious that congress cannot make these decisions. It''s our money, we should decide how to use it. Congress needs to return to reality.

[kengaard]

Earmarks invite waste. Congress needs to reflect on Hardin''s essay, The Tragedy of the Commons. So do the American people.
Everyone gets the government some people deserve.
Never forget - those in congress are not on your side!

[hirscha15]

It is a shame that CBS does not give a balance approach and reporting to the issue of earmarks. Please look at and report on the valuable earmarks that members of congress place in the appropriations bills. Programs for seniors and young children that the Chief Executive elects to overlook. The projects that build roads and install miles of sewers and other similar infrastructure and yes even bridges except that these structures serve thousands of cars and citizens each and every day. I am not disputing that there are earmarks that are pure pork, but lets not put all the apples into the same barrel. And earmarks do get scrutinized. Constituents or their lobbyists must first submit their request to a House Member or Senator where the respective staff thoroughly review and then the projects are thoroughly reviewed by Committee staff. In the first session of the 110th Congress, each house published their appropriations projects in the report to accompany the spending bill. So there was plenty of time for public viewing and congressional viewing as well. And they were published in the final conference report. Bottom line-there is review and the vast majority of the projects improve the quality of life of our citizens. Constitutionally, it is the right of Congress to determine how funds are spent in our Democracy. The President proposes and the Congress has the final say on spending. CBS needs to be balanced. Please be fair- it is better to be a workhorse and not a show horse.