Earmarks. Pork. Pet projects.
Whatever you call it, this type of spending has been making the headlines lately.
On Wednesday, March 11th, President Barack Obama signed the omnibus spending bill, keeping the federal government funded through September. Included in this legislation were approximately 9,000 earmarks, totaling nearly $8 billion from Democrats and Republicans alike.
Some people say that given the earmarks make up less than two percent of the total omnibus spending, we shouldn’t focus on them. But, right now, families are balancing their own budgets – often giving up the new pair of shoes, the nice dinner out, or the family trip, to be financially responsible – President Obama and Members of Congress should be just as responsible.
I won’t argue that these earmarks don’t have some validity, worth or cause behind them – perhaps some (such as $298,000 for a small business program for the Florida Department of Citrus) serve a more understandable purpose than others (like $1.7 million for swine odor research in Iowa). I will argue, however, that these earmarks do not belong in an omnibus spending bill or other larger pieces of legislation. I did not put forth any earmark requests in this legislation and I have no intention of requesting an earmark during the 111th Session of Congress.
If my fellow Members of Congress can’t go without their pet projects during these economic times, what does that say about our spending habits and the lessons we’ve learned from this economic downturn?
At a time when people are really hurting, and our national deficit has hit a record high, pet projects that Members intend to take back to their districts shouldn’t even be considered in such legislation. If the earmark program is really so necessary and beneficial, it should be able to stand alone on its merits, rather than be tucked away into a 1,000+ page spending bill that no Member of Congress had enough time to read.
The American people elected their Members of Congress to focus on the bigger picture – the larger issues at hand – such as the economy, job loss, and terrorism, not to spend time deciding on where the sidewalk in their hometown should be placed or how it should be funded – that’s why we have local, county and state officials.
My fellow Congressmen and Congresswomen would be better off returning to the main issues at hand and leaving the earmarks behind. And President Obama, who campaigned on bringing change to Washington, would better serve his constituents by working to eliminate these earmarks in the legislation he signs.
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