November 11, 2010 06:53 PM UTC

Earmark Battle Heats Up

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• by: IndyNinja

(More on this from Newsweek as the Tea Party looks to Republicans to pay up for support they received in the election. – promoted by Colorado Pols)

x-posted from PolicyStation.org



A fight is brewing between Republicans in the US Senate over whether they will honor their pledge to reduce spending and crack down on earmarks.

According to the Washington Independant, Sen. Jim Demint (R – SC) will be proposing a resolution which would ban Republicans from requesting earmarks. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), however, has been resisting the move, saying that “eliminating earmarks would effectively cede Congress’ spending authority to the White House while not making a real dent in the $1 trillion-plus budget deficit.”  

Republicans are lining up on both sides, some saying that eliminating earmarks won’t reduce spending at all and that it is a “phoney issue”, while others like Sen. Coburn (R – OK) who said in an editorial for the National Review, “If they didn’t spend money, why defend them? Stopping an activity that spends money does result in less spending. It’s that simple.”

Republicans can’t seem to keep a consistent message about earmarks. Year after year, candidates from the Republican party for the US Senate and House pledge to put a stop to earmarks and “pork barrel” spending. And we all remember when Sen. McCain (R – AZ) pledged to veto any and all “pork” that crossed his desk if he were elected President.

But when it comes time to walk the walk, they fail to live up to the rhetoric. In fact, a few have pointed out that the resolution proposed by Demint is non-binding. So while violations would technically be against the “sense of the caucus”, earmark requests from Republicans would not likely be reduced.

In 2010, Republicans have secured over $2.6 billion in earmarks, and that’s as the minority party. Democrats certainly don’t escape blame on this issue, as the D party has secured about $5 billion in earmarks so far. (The difference is that they don’t campaign against them) Bi-partisan earmarks and those whose requester was undisclosed totaled about $8.2 billion. You can see a break down of the state by state costs and a list of every single earmark over at endspending.com.

One thing that you will notice is that Colorado receives proportionally less money in earmarks than other states. Our per capita earmark is only about $17 (Rank 42nd) while most states come in at about $30-$60 and a few shooting through the roof. West Virginia has pulled $173.74 per person (Rank 3rd) and Hawaii (Rank 1st) has managed a whopping $318.36 per person.

All told, earmarks accounted for about $16 billion worth of federal spending this year. And while that is certainly a lot of money, it’s money that goes back to the states and to direct spending projects that build communities. That’s why no member of congress, Republican or Democrat, is ever going to stop. They get to come home to their states with a new airport or 15 new schools and campaign that they fought hard to get those things for their state and the people love them for it. But when compared to the $1 trillion deficit or the $13 trillion national debt, $6 billion sure doesn’t seem like a lot. And unlike many of the ways congress spends money, earmarks actually help communities and taxpayers most of the time.

Now, Colorado doesn’t have any Republican Senators for me to write to about this, but the Senate Republicans should defeat Sen. Demint’s resolution when they vote on Tuesday (by secret ballot, btw). It would be a purely symbolic move with no real backbone or intention to follow through. If they were serious about this issue and the resolution had any true effect, maybe I would feel differently. But as it is, it’s nothing more than grandstanding, and that’s one thing this congress and this nation do not need any more of.