Outrageous: Wasteful Spending on Capitol Hill (page 2 of 2)

During the presidential campaign, McCain tried to focus the spotlight on earmarks.

"I will make them famous, and you will know their names," he vowed of pork gobblers on Capitol Hill. Barack Obama took a less strident tone. Although he agreed that spending on "screwy things … need[s] to be eliminated," the president-elect downplayed the significance of earmarks, noting that they make up less than 1 percent of the total federal budget.

He's right that chopping them won't solve our fiscal woes. And it's true that not every earmark spends money badly; even that hibernation study might have applications for tired soldiers on the battlefield. But $17 billion is still real money. And more important, earmarks are a proven source of corruption.

Members of Congress often use them to reward the Washington lobbyists who help fund their campaigns. One lobbyist explained this slimy practice to the Associated Press this way: "If you go in to see [members], somewhere in the conversation they somehow say, 'Well, we were looking through our list of campaign contributors and didn't happen to see you there.'

Is there a quid pro quo? No, not directly, but you'd have to be pretty dense not to figure it out."

Sometimes it's outright bribery. Former congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA) is now sitting in jail after using budget earmarks to procure military contracts in exchange for gifts like antique furniture, swank dinners, and Super Bowl tickets. In at least one case, a defense contractor actually wrote the legislative language that Cunningham slipped into a spending bill.

Meanwhile, the Justice Department is investigating whether Congressman Don Young (R-AK) added a $10 million earmark for a Florida highway developer, allegedly in return for some $40,000 in campaign contributions. (Young is one of the folks who brought us that $398 million "bridge to nowhere," which cost taxpayers $223 million before it was finally killed.)

On a more basic level, spending millions without any debate or scrutiny is "fundamentally undemocratic," says Ellen Miller of the nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation, a political watchdog group. "The process stinks."

If they want to restore Americans' trust in Washington, President Obama and the new Congress need to get serious about earmarks.

In the heat of the campaign last March, both Obama and Hillary Clinton joined with McCain to back an amendment to the $3 trillion federal budget that would have placed a one-year moratorium on all earmark spending. Not many other senators joined them: The measure went down in flames, 29 to 71.

But now that Obama is in the Oval Office, he could use his bully pulpit to revive the bill and force lawmakers to vote while the nation is truly watching. It's safe to assume that John McCain would back him in the Senate.

At the very least, Obama should deliver on his promise to bring transparency to government. Shining a light on people who use their power to reward friends and contributors would be a great start.

Do More

• Get local. Write to your legislators and let them know you don't support pork. Visit house.gov and senate.gov for links to lawmakers.
• Stay informed. There are several watchdog organizations, such as Citizens Against Government Waste (cagw.org) and Taxpayers for Common Sense (taxpayer.net), that will keep you up-to-date. You can even report earmarks you find.
• Become an earmark expert. Visit earmarkwatch.org. It lets you create an account so you can do your own investigating.

From Reader's Digest - February 2009

 

• • Politicians
• Government

• Outrageous: Hall of Shame
• Five galling tales of greed and abuse found within our nation's government.
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• Quick Study: Lobbying's Long Arm
• An in-depth look into policy clears up the implications behind lobbying.
• 
• How to Avoid A Scam
• When times get tough, the cons get cagier. The latest scams, shams, and devious flimflams to avoid.
•