More Lawmakers Give Up Earmarks

GOPUSA: As reported by the AP - A growing number of lawmakers in Congress are voluntarily giving up one of the biggest perks of office -- at the risk of alienating their constituents. More than 20 members of the House and Senate have vowed not to seek any new earmarks for their districts, saying they won't take advantage of a system pilloried for wasteful spending on projects such as the Alaskan ''bridge to nowhere'' and a teapot museum in North Carolina.

''There's a growing awareness that the system is broken and we aren't going to fix it unless some of us start taking a stand,'' said Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., a third-term congressman who decided last year to stop requesting so-called pork-barrel projects. Kline is part of a mostly Republican group of lawmakers opting out of a system they say is rife with abuse in spite of the promise of an overhaul. The list includes Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., Jim DeMint, R-S.C., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who for years have criticized earmarks as wasteful. They want to end a process in which earmarks are often based not on their own merit but on the clout and seniority of the member making the request.

Yet Kline has faced criticism back home, . . . Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, a freshman Democrat, is facing similar scrutiny . . . Widespread criticism of the earmark process hasn't stopped the vast majority of lawmakers from requesting them. The massive spending bill passed by Congress in December had nearly 9,800 earmarks at a total cost of more than $10 billion. . . . [Read More]

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