Interesting Info On Earmarks

No, not those funny little moles sprouting off of you lobes, but the line items added to the budget by Congress to give money to specific groups.

Here are some interesting facts from an article about the way Congress continues to waste our Tax Dollars for their own benefit....

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...BY&refer=us

A few interesting tidbits:

Senators brought home an average of $180 million each while House members typically produced $28 million for their districts, the report said.

1. McCain had 0 earmarks last year.
2. Obama had $91 Million in earmarks.
3. Hillary came in at almost twice the average with $342 Million.

McCain is cosponsoring a bill to require 2/3rds majority vote to add a line item to the budget. Obama and Clinton both say they back it.

Earmarks are also known as Pork Barrel projects.

As far as I could find, Earmarks today have very little oversight.

[Full Disclosure] Yes, I am a bit biased as I believe McCain actually does what he believes is right, even going so far as to set an example for others and going against the grain to try to bring an end to Earmarks.

With that said, I also believe Earmarks are a big part of the problem with Washington and our Spend Until It Hurts, Then Spend Some More Government....

Is this a good bill? I can't say. Personally, I think even requiring a 2/3rd vote will bring about quid pro quo and back scratching to accomplish the same thing that is done today.

It's certainly a good start although I'm sure that there are some unintended consequences down the line that will pop up when we least expect it.

I'm guessing a lot of these guys are swearing off of earmarks for this year because it is an election year though...

The most infamous earmarks and recent memory came out of the Transportation Bill a couple of years ago with the worst item being the Alaskan $300 million dollar bridge to nowhere. What was never really talked about with those transportation projects is that Alaska (or any other state) didn't get a dime more than the "formula" stated they were due. Those earmarks basically said that the money that you get for transportation would go to the earmarked projects over any other project. In the case of Alaska, this tied up $300 million dollars that they were planning to use for other projects frustrating many people involved. One of the few good things that I could say about our Congressional delegation at that time was that they minimized the earmarks for New Hampshire in that bill and left us the freedom to do what we needed to do with the money. Most of the earmarks that they did were for projects that were already high priorities and this helped move them along further.

Most of the earmarks/pork that we see however are just special interest groups pushing for money and congress folk feeling the need to bring something back to the district. Having to get a 2/3rds vote on this aspect of projects would help cut it back a lot I think. Some of how well this will work will depend on how it is implemented. I think as long as Congress controls what gets in or doesn't, it will be ok. Leaving it to the Executive branch is a bad idea.

I agree, it is the earmarks that waste alot of time and is really one of the ways fro candidates to pay back the people who helped them get elected. I.e. it's wrong. I like McCains integrity on earmarks, he has been one of the best in regards to doing the right things in that arena.

As you both point out, there will be ways of working the system for our congress even if this happens, but it will make some of the craziest things harder to happen.

As Sarge said our congressional delegation here in NH has at least gotten pork money for worthwhile things, though they haven't been too much better than average.

The "bridge to nowhere" was just flat out wrong. Also in the late 90's early 00's the big dig also caused alot fo havoc to MA road networks because it devoted a substantial portion of state fund to one sveral mile section of road and ignored other important projects all over the state.