Congress Spends Billions in Earmarks

(CBS)  President Obama has declared war on "earmarks," funding for special projects that end up costing taxpayers billions. But some in Congress still haven't gotten the message.

The new defense budget is once again chock full of them, reports CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson.

The United States is now $12 trillion in debt, but Congress doesn't seem too concerned. They just added billions of dollars to next year's Pentagon budget in the form of earmarks.

The 2010 Defense Department budget starts at a whopping $623 billion. Pet projects of individual members of Congress add 1,858 earmarks equaling $5 billion tax dollars on top of it.

Sen. Tom Coburn is against earmarking altogether, saying it's fraught with conflicts of interest. Party leaders and those on the appropriations committees get the lion's share of earmarks.

"The appropriators reign supreme because they're like pirates who divide up the bounty and share it among themselves," Coburn said.

There is a stack of House and Senate earmarks tacked onto next year's Defense Department budget without the normal public review. None of these add-ons was important enough to be included in the regular budget. A lot of the companies getting tax dollars have campaign ties to the member of Congress giving the money.

For example, Congressman Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii awarded Pacific Biodiesel a $3.5 million earmark to try to grow fuel for the Army in Hawaii. It turns out the founder of Pacific Biodiesel is a co-chair of the Congressman's gubernatorial campaign.

The pattern is repeated over and over.

Abercrombie also gets donations from defense contractor BAE. BAE gets a defense earmark for "mammal awareness."

Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen of New Jersey receives thousands from defense contractor Honeywell. He gives Honeywell a $2 million earmark to develop specialized ink. Honeywell's lobby firm, Winning Strategies, happens to be managed by the Congressman's former chief-of-staff.

Congressman Robert Aderholt gets donations from the founder of Victory Solutions and Miltec. Each company gets an earmark.

Frelinghuysen had no comment. Abercrombie and Aderholt told us they carefully vet and disclose their earmarks, and award them to projects that will be beneficial.

At least one congressman is bucking the trend. John Adler of New Jersey has taken the unusual step of returning more than $6,000 in donations from a list of lobbyists and others who benefited from his earmark requests.

Last week, Coburn proposed giving up all earmarks and using the money to expand veteran's benefits.

"I believe we ought to pay for what we do," Coburn said.

Not surprisingly, Coburn's idea fell to overwhelming defeat, proving that even in hard economic times, it's easy for Congress to spend your money.

[justdatrooth]

Obama: Corruption You Can Believe In!!!

[stryker54]

thanks Obama, tax and spend thats all they will do and the middle class will become the poverty class. To all of you who voted Obama this is what you get. CHANGE YOU CAN COUNT ON!!!! ROTFLMAO.

[AnnieDanny]

I don't know what we can do about it. We vote for these people because they promise to do a better job but it seems as if nothing gets better, EVER. Do the people have any power anymore? And do we have representation? I don't think so.

[ark54]

Here is the point, I believe the 2009 USA population is at 308 million people. Could be that maybe 300 million are considered as middle class, lower class? so you have have more people making money at that level, the tax base is the 300 million people making an odinary wage, and is that at least 40,000 a year?. Our government knows that the majority of the money to support the USA is with the 300 million people.
I will take 300 million people making 40,000 a year, tax them, over 8 million so called people making 150,000 a year.

[brianbwb-2009]

Too simplistic, to the point of overly misleading.

Your numbers assume that the elderly, infirm, children, and the unemployed, are all making the average of $40k per annum.

Let us look at some more representative stats,

Statement of

Keith Hall
Commissioner
Bureau of Labor Statistics

before the
Joint Economic Committee
UNITED STATES CONGRESS

Friday, November 6, 2009

Turning to measures from the survey of households, the
unemployment rate increased from 9.8 to 10.2 percent over the
month. Since the recession began, the jobless rate has increased
by 5.3 percentage points, while the number of unemployed has more
than doubled to 15.7 million.

The number of long-term unemployed remained high. In
October, 5.6 million workers had been jobless for 27 weeks or
more.

Among the employed, there were 9.3 million persons working
part time in October who would have preferred full-time work.
The number of such workers has doubled since the start of the
recession.

Among those outside the labor force--that is, persons
neither working nor looking for work--the number of discouraged
workers in October was 808,000, up from 484,000 a year earlier.
These individuals are not currently looking for work because they
believe no jobs are available for them..."

These numbers show the labor force of some 150 million, half your estimate.

Among the employed, another 10% are definitely earning less than your $40k figure, because they are only employed part time.

Lastly, your summary assumes a non existent choice, either the rich, or the poor, but not both.

I posit that the rich should shoulder the tax burden in proportion to the percentage of the total national income they receive, against the total percentage of the currently fully-employed labor force, and also must bear the lion's share of the cost of two wars, whose purpose is not the protection of our country, but rather the advancement of their international economic agenda.

[ark54]

Everyone has an opinion, every human has one. All can this that and the other, okay.
Here is the bottom line, the ordinary man/woman are out of work. They have no money to provide for themseleves and family, the standard of living is nil (and in a free country ?) the ordinary person cannot foot the bill of the United States of America any longer, but yet it goes on an on. I heard talk of a WAR TAX??????????? What?
You can't tax me any more. I see people making millions of dollars somewhere and the majority of United States taxpaying citizens have provided them with their wealth. Capitalism at the worst that man can provide. Nothing at all makes any sense, money is in indeed the "ROOT OF ALL EVIL". Man worships money at the expense of someone dying, where maybe if that money would have been funneled for medical care, that HUMAN being would not have died.

[sandy19731]

"the ordinary man/woman are out of work."

Most of this rant is contradictory. But, the fact is that the
majority of people are NOT out of work.

If you are for taxing the rich more, say so. I think that is your point, but it's hard to tell.

[ark54]

Everyone has an opinion, every human has one. All can this that and the other, okay.
Here is the bottom line, the ordinary man/woman are out of work. They have no money to provide for themseleves and family, the standard of living is nil (and in a free country ?) the ordinary person cannot foot the bill of the United States of America any longer, but yet it goes on an on. I heard talk of a WAR TAX??????????? What?
You can't tax me any more. I see people making millions of dollars somewhere and the majority of United States taxpaying citizens have provided them with their wealth. Capitalism at the worst that man can provide. Nothing at all makes any sense, money is in indeed the "ROOT OF ALL EVIL". Man worships money at the expense of someone dying, where maybe if that money would have been funneled for medical care, that HUMAN being would not have died.

[rbichamp]

I hope Obama is true to his promise to VETO any bill with earmarks!

[Tallaron]

Didn't Obama buy a few votes lately and 2 of them from Louisiana. We know that one got over 300 million dollars. Buying votes is like earmarks to me. It's cool when he does it though.

[rfague]

Yup, the morons in congress haven't learned a thing.

Best to make their stay in DC a short one, say, a single term.

Who needs term limits, vote these SOB's out of office!

[brianbwb-2009]

Careful what you wish for, the new crop will be just as corrupt, and even hungrier.

They will also be further motivated by the fact that they might only have one term in which to recoup their "investment", plus profit.

When that happens, today's corruption will seem like "the good old days" in comparison.

[environmental_wacko]

and?...

[Omni-Present101]

The ChickenHawk Republican Talk Machine are in Support of the High A!! Cost Afghanistan Occupation.

Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, Praeger, Majority of Republican Talk Radio Pundits and their Legion of Fans & Fox News are all for this War.

"Listen to the Generals on the Ground"

Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Mike Huckabee and All the other Fox News Numbskulls, Chant this Sad Refrain, Over & Over Again.

They won't be able to Get Away from their Statements. That is Exactly why, President Obama should Listen to his VOICE and CONSCIENCE and Withdraw. This War, is Too Costly in Lives, To Costly In Time and Too Costly to the USA,

Its "Generational Theft and Generational Debt"

If President Obama Pulled Troops out in 2011 along with the Iraq Withdrawal, People would See the Logic. Let them Defend their Own Land, so We can Defend Ours here in the [[USA]]
_______________

I Love President Obama, But He Caters to the Republican Right, Too Much on the War and on Health Care, Cowtowing to Olympia Snowe, One Republican Vote, when all he has to do, is have Cloture and Reconciliation and Do what's Best in Resolving the Health Care Problems of this Nation.

He Now CowTows to the Republicans who will Hate Him Anyway, as you can See on this Thread, whether he Sends 35,000 or 100,000 US Soldiers, they will Not Like Him, Vote for Him or Favor Him, No Matter what he does to Appease them and she Shouldn't Appease them at all.

Bush used Reconciliation in 2001, 2003 and 2005.

Regarding Reconciliation 51 Vote Majority Rules:

Republican Judd Gregg stated ..

"If You're the Majority, You Win]

___________________