Stick It In Your Ear(mark)

No, I’m not talking about your pierced earring scars. Earmarks (or pork) are those special state and local projects that get tacked onto a federal appropriation bill. By one estimate, it’s over $70 billion and counting this year alone. Yes, the good old boys (and gals) sneak in their pet projects to “payback” a lobbyist or gain favor with the local electorate. Some examples include:

$229,000 for dairy education in Iowa
$500,000 for a swimming pool in Banning, CA
$600,000 for the Center of End of Life Electronics in West Virginia
$1,000,000 for the Tourism Development Association in Kentucky

It’s often impossible to find out who sponsored the project because they aren’t required to be part of the legislative text of the bill. Many times what happens is it gets slipped in during conference, without the sponsor’s identity, and it becomes a footnote. How nice!

There are few congressmen trying to end this nonsense, most notably Jeff Flake of Arizona. He’s an outspoken critic of the practice and has introduced legislation (H.R. 1642 The Obligation of Funds Transparency Act) to reform the process. It would require that each earmark be part of the original legislative text so it can be debated on the house floor and it would also identify the projects sponsor. How radical! It has been in committee for a year and a half and probably will never see the light of day.

See how your congressman voted, to debate and force a Yes-No vote, on some notable earmarks.

http://lippard.blogspot.com/2006/08/jeff-flakes-anti-earmark-pork-fighting.html