Out on Their Ears

From IBD:

Posted 2/15/2006
Federal Budget: After years of abusing its power to spend, Congress is finally feeling some heat from the public. It's time to hold lawmakers accountable.

Members of Congress have developed the earmarking process into a fine art, skillfully asking for — and getting — dollars for specific local programs in their home states and districts without actually putting their names on the requests. Last year's mountain of earmarks — 13,997 of them — cost taxpayers $27.3 billion, says Citizens Against Government Waste.

Rep. Tom Prince, a Republican from Georgia, has introduced a sensible bill that amends House rules so that members who ask for earmarks will have to attach their names to the requests. Across the way, Sen. John McCain has introduced the Pork-Barrel Reduction Act, which has a provision that also requires the identification of lawmakers who propose earmarks.

The remainder of the bill is an attempt to make it more difficult for Congress to slip through earmarks.
Forcing disclosure won't end the problem of earmarks. Many in Congress strut and preen over their ability to bring home the pork. Shameless lawmakers such as Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., and Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, have never been shy about admitting they squeeze taxpayers across the country to pay for pet projects that they believe make them look good back home.

Porkbusters, a group at truthlaidbear.com that is dedicated to cutting the budget, has named these gentlemen Nos. 1 and 2 in the Pork Hall of Shame, but there's little chance that it bothers them.

Ideally, earmarks should be eliminated entirely. They are not legitimate federal expenditures. There are real people out there paying high taxes for goodies that others will avail themselves to.

Consider the Alaska Fisheries Marketing Board, which has lapped up $30 million in federal money through the years. One of its more worthwhile projects was to hand Alaska Airlines a $500,000 grant to paint a Chinook salmon on one of its Boeing 737s.

While we're picking on Alaska's mission to Congress, we should mention the $3 million that's been requested to make a documentary about the state's infrastructure achievements. And the infamous bridge to nowhere, which will likely exceed $300 million.

But Alaska has nothing on West Virginia, where the people, according to Citizens Against Government Waste, have been the recipients of more than $1 billion in pork,thanks to the tireless efforts of a single man: Robert Byrd.

Those are just a few examples of the many that would take more space than we have on this page if we covered them all.

It's all so typical statism: Concentrate the benefits, diffuse the costs. And it doesn't belong in this country. Earmarks should be eradicated, not merely brought into the sun.

Still, we need first steps, especially when the violators and the only folks who have the power to bring justice to the budget process are the same people.