Comments Regarding New House Earmark Rules

By Adam Putnam, Chair US House Republican Conference: WHAT THEY’RE SAYING about Democrat Earmark Abuses

St. Petersburg Times: “Pet projects pushed out of public eye The new game that House Appropriations Chair David Obey intends to play with budget earmarks this year is worse than the usual hide-and-seek. He is taking the whole thing underground, as though he is to be trusted as a one-man auditor for congressional pork. If this is to be the new ethic that Democrats promised, voters might want their ballots back. The result, then, is that the earmark projects will receive almost no public scrutiny and no congressional debate. This is precisely the kind of environment in which convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff thrived, the kind of place he fondly called the ‘favor factory.’” (Editorial, 6/5/07)

Las Vegas Review Journal: “Democratic earmark reforms lasted 100 days. When Democrats took control of Congress four months back, incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., bragged it would take her party less than 100 hours to curb wasteful pork spending by requiring members to attach their names to their ‘earmarks,’ exposing such waste to the harsh light of public scrutiny. She failed to mention this "reform" would remain in effect for little more than 100 days … The ‘anti-earmark reforms" are just for show. Mere window dressing. Why, if we enjoyed the immunities of a colorful old Democratic congressman, we might even call them ‘total crap.’” (Editorial, 6/5/07)

CNN’s Jack Cafferty: “Remember when the Democrats took control of the Congress back in January? On their very first day in power they approved rules to clearly identify so-called pet projects or ‘earmarks’ in spending bills. You know, part of their promise to bring openness and transparency to government. Well, guess what? The AP reports Democrats are not including the spending requests and legislation as it's being written. Instead, they are following an order from the House Appropriations Comm. Chair, David Obey, to keep the bills free of these earmarks until the fall. Now by doing this, nobody will know what the earmarks are when the bills are first voted on in June. And when they're finally announced in the fall, well, then, it will be virtually too late to do anything about them. Clever, don’t you think?” (6/4/07)

Toledo (OH) Blade: “Backtracking on earmarks. HERE'S the outrage of the week (among many) from Washington: Democrats, who took control of Congress by pledging reform and whacking Republicans over the issue of special-interest ‘earmarks,’ already are perpetuating this odious waste of taxpayer money … Democrats promised to end such abuses … Now that they're in charge, they should live up to their rhetoric. (Editorial, 5/26/07)

The Missoulian (MT): “Congressional pork too tasty to leave alone. Congress is ignoring election promises and feasting on pork projects. What's on the menu on Capitol Hill these days? Pork, of course. And just about everyone's in line for the buffet. Not that we're surprised, but we are scratching our heads, given the promises and pronouncements of the last election season. In their first half-year in office, the newly powerful House Democrats have seemingly lost their reformist zeal …” (Editorial, 5/31/07)

Reading (PA) Eagle: “Democratic vows remain unfulfilled … prior to last November’s general election, Democrats saw their chance to regain congressional control … Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who was soon to become speaker of the House, said, ‘We pledge to make this the most honest, ethical and open Congress in history.’ That pledge was broken in March when Democrat leaders pushed through a $124 billion emergency-supplemental bill to fund the military in Iraq and Afghanistan that was laden with $21 billion in pork-barrel spending, known as earmarks. A House rule instituted by Democrats that prohibits swapping earmarks for votes also seems to have fallen by the wayside. (Editorial, 5/31/07)

CNN Investigative Reporter Drew Griffin: “The new, open, Democratic Party-controlled Congress promised the earmark process would no longer be secret. All earmark requests are made public with plenty of time for debate. But Dave Obey, the chair of the House Appropriations Comm. . . . has decided that earmarks, those generous gifts of your money, will be inserted into bills only after the bill has cleared the House floor. In other words, earmarks will still be done in secret, no public debate. …. In the next few months, in what Congressman Obey says is the most open earmark process ever, the bills will be drafted, the earmarks added. But only then, just before those bills are passed, will the public learn where the treasure is buried.” (5/25/07)

Associated Press: “After promising unprecedented openness regarding Congress' pork barrel practices, House Democrats are moving in the opposite direction as they draw up spending bills for the upcoming budget year. Democrats are sidestepping rules approved their first day in power in January to clearly identify ‘earmarks’—lawmakers' requests for specific projects and contracts for their states—in documents that accompany spending bills.” (6/3/07)

CNN’s GRIFFIN: “Thousands of pages of earmarks in a bill, time after time after time. And the Democrats promised reform. And, it's not happening.”(5/31/07)

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Tags: Congressional Pork, corruption, Dave Obey, earmark reform, earmarks, Nancy Pelosi, pork, US House To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!