So this morning I was watching John King from CNN grill White House budget director Peter Orszag, on the earmarks in the Omnibus Spending bill. I was somewhat annoyed by John King’s relentless questioning of the earmarks and asking for the impossible, which was for Omnibus stimulus to have zero earmarks A.K.A pork barrel spending. I just want to set the stage first, but what the heck is an earmark anyway?
Okay now that we know what earmarks are, why on earth are pundits and “Johnny-come-latelys‘” (JCL) in an uproar about these earmarks, which represent 1.7% of the Omnibus spending bill? Yes all 8500 to 9000 of these earmarks are about 5.5 billion (other sources have it at 7.7 billion) of the total 410 billion. Let’s be clear on this issue. All earmarks are not created equal and neither are lobbyists. I’m not a fan of “wasteful” earmarks and just because something is called an earmark, does not mean that it is wasteful. If I told you that someone shot a 9mm and killed someone, would you automatically call this person a murderer? Of course not, I would have to tell you the context first. Was it in self-defense? Did the person just shoot the gun to rob someone? etc.
Let’s also consider a couple things regarding these recent earmarks:
- These are Republican and Democratic initiated earmarks
- We are in one of the worst economic catastrophes this country has every seen. The administration is trying to revamp how business is done in Washington. One damn thing at a time and just a little bit of patience.
- The Stimulus package had ZERO earmarks. That’s right, ZERO
- Where were all the JCL’s for the last 8 years? They get off the hook because fiscal responsibility is now on their radar? If you ask me seems like selective fiscal responsibility. So now that you have an administration that is trying to initiate a new strategy on spending is now supposed to overhaul the entire government process in 7 weeks? Are you kidding me?
If was up to me I would eliminate earmarks completely but let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water. I’m not a big fan of $1,700,000 for Pig Odor research in Iowa, $819,000 for catfish research in Alabama, $238,000 in deep sea voyaging in Hawaii or the countless other earmarks that clearly go into the “Why the heck is this in the bill” category? I’m not happy about this, but shouldn’t we be spending time talking about 98% of the bill?
- Politifact.com: Democrats too low with $3.8 billion earmark estimate for Omnibus
- Taxpayers for Common Sense: $7.7 Billion In Earmarks In 2009 Omnibus Spending Bill
- Wall Street Journal: Orszag Urges Patience on Recovery
- CNN Orszag:Too Late on Earmarks
- Soapbox Derby: Earmarks
