Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Dems to Wipe Out Pet Projects in Bills

BREITBART reported Democrats tidying up a cluster of unfinished spending bills dumped on them by departing Republican leaders in Congress will start by removing billions of dollars in lawmakers' pet projects next month.

And replacing them with Democratic earmarks.
The move, orchestrated by the incoming chairmen of the House and Senate Appropriations committees, could prove politically savvy even as it proves unpopular with other members of Congress, who as a group will lose thousands of so-called earmarks.

"There will be no congressional earmarks," Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., and Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va.,
How many roads, bridges, and buildings in West Virginia are named after Byrd, the king of earmarks.
said Monday in a statement announcing their plans, which were quickly endorsed by incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D- Nev.

Earmarks are congressionally mandated projects such as grants for local governments, home-state universities and hospitals, roads, bridges and flood control construction, and economic development efforts not included in the president's spending proposals.

Often called "pork" by critics, their sponsors defend inserting the projects into spending bills by claiming that, as elected representatives, they know more about the needs of people in their states and government programs than the president or bureaucrats in the executive branch.
If your state needs them, it should pay for them.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

With the Democrats’ promise to pause earmarks, there’s a lot to consider. What do you think the affects over this pork stopping will be? When it comes to the public’s understanding of the nation’s finances, the American people are surprisingly tuned in, willing to make sacrifices and extremely understanding of fiscal challenges. But when it comes to government spending, there are some trust issues.
http://www.publicagenda.org/research/research_reports_details.cfm?list=104

Don Singleton said...

Politicians are going to be reluctant to give up pork, because they depend on it for reelection, but I believe we should have a bipartisan pressure from both the left and the right to push for permanent blockage of earmarks.