Earmarks by another name - "legislative directives"

By David Sanders, Arkansas News Bureau: It was never a question of "if," but always "when" Democrats would give into Washington's corrupt ways. When Democrats took the reins of the government's legislative branch five months ago, Nancy Pelosi, the newly installed speaker of the House, pledged that she would oversee "the most ethical Congress in history." . . . Pelosi's pledge to "drain the swamp" was short-lived. Apparently, she didn't mean what she said. Now she is allowing her Democratic colleagues to refill it, but in doing so they are trying to obscure it from public . . .

Last week, Rep. David Obey (D-WI), chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, told members that spending bills from his committee would be earmark-free. Not to worry, Obey explained, members' requests for earmarks wouldn't go unanswered. In fact, he would make the process go more smoothly. Obey said that he would add earmarks to the final conference report in the fall, while House and Senate negotiators worked out the differences between their respective spending bills. . . . Therein lies the rub. The dirty little secret: When Congress' pork is added in conference, there will be no debate, no public scrutiny and no members chastising members for excesses. Taxpayers will be in the dark. . . . no member can amend the legislation. Members will only be allowed to vote "yea" or "nay."

. . . Pelosi, with Obey at her side, proposed a slight change during a Tuesday press conference. "Why don't we leave here today forgetting the word earmark?" she said when asked by reporters about her apparent flip-flop . . . . Pelosi said she simply preferred to call them "legislative directives." Her justification on the name change: This is legislative spending as opposed to executive spending. . . . Pelosi and company can't keep their word. Call them earmarks or "legislative directives," it doesn't matter. The swamp is full, the stench has returned and soon bloodsucking mosquitoes will converge on Congress. [Read More]

---

Tags: Congressional Pork, Dave Obey, Democrats, earlmarks, legislative directives, Nancy Pelosi, pork, pork-barrel spenders To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!