Conservative 'War Over Earmarks' Backfires
Congressional conservatives announced earlier this month that they had
mapped out a plan to engage in a "war
over earmarks"
with the majority in Congress by targeting "certain earmarks" deemed
"egregious" and "wasteful" to attack spending priorities. This
"war over earmarks" coincides with President Bush's strategy
to veto nearly all appropriations bills passed by Congress. But as
Center for American Progress Senior Fellow Scott Lilly notes, "No one
with any recollection
of the performance of Congress over the past decade can have any doubt
that
earmarking
exploded during that period" and
"that
the practice became most egregious after George W. Bush moved into the
Oval
office." When former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL)
placed earmarks in the transportation bill to turn
a profit on his personal property, Bush applauded.
When former Senate Appropriations Chairman Ted Stevens (R-AK) tried to
secure funding for a "bridge to nowhere," Bush said nothing.
Now the new majority in Congress is beginning to repair the damage. An
analysis by Citizens Against Government Waste estimates that earmarks
in FY08 appropriations bills are "down
about 33 percent from the $29 billion in earmarks in FY06 spending
bills." (See a graphic here.)
"While asserting that more
progress hacking earmarks off of spending
bills must be made, Citizens Against Government Waste Vice President
David Williams said there was credit to go around on Capitol Hill for
the reduction that has occurred." At a time when
Congress is cutting into earmark practices, Bush and
his congressional allies have opted to play disingenuous political
games, in
hopes of making the American public forget conservatives' long
tenure
of fiscal irresponsibility.
FIRST SHOT GOES ASTRAY: One of
the first battles in the "war over earmarks" was a coordinated effort
by conservatives to attack a provision sponsored by Rep. Jim Clyburn
(D-SC). The earmark provided funding for a program "that uses golf
to 'teach life lessons' to low-income kids,"
specifically "children
of servicemembers all over the nation." In two days, the right wing
coordinated
an assault
on Clyburn, calling the funding provision an "extremely
disturbing" example of wasteful spending. Unmentioned by
Clyburn's critics, however, was the fact that the program had
been heavily praised by conservatives like Rep.
Howard 'Buck' McKeon (R-CA), who organized
a hearing to attest to the program's virtues. House Minority
Leader John Boehner (R-OH) delivered official
testimony in support of the program, calling it a valuable "youth
character building" program. After combing through all the earmarks
in search of one that could best highlight "egregious" and "wasteful"
spending, the conservatives' first shot in their new war misfired.
BUSH'S SELECTIVE ANGER: Earlier
this week, Bush used
his sixth-ever veto to squash "a measure to fund education, job
training and health programs" because, according to White House
spokeswoman Dana Perino, the bill contained "extra
spending." Bush said, "The majority was elected on a pledge of
fiscal responsibility, but so far it's acting like a
teenager with a new credit card." While Bush was trying to cast the
majority in Congress as "acting
like drunken sailors with federal tax dollars," he failed to take
notice of who placed the largest earmarks in the bill
he vetoed: Sens. Richard Shelby (R-AL) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
Congressional Quarterly reported, "The
single biggest earmark in the Labor-HHS-Education section
of the bill belongs to Sen. Richard C. Shelby, R-Ala., who won $9.3
million for the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. The
second-largest
was requested by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. -- $8.4
million for the University of Louisville Research Foundation." If
Bush were serious about restraining spending and cutting earmarks, he
would take on McConnell and Shelby, but he has yet to do so.
BUSH'S OWN EARMARKS: While Bush
is busy assailing Congress for earmarks, The Examiner noted an
inconvenient fact for the White House. "Presidents, including Bush,
play the earmark game, too. Bush
stuffs his
budget with billions for pet projects very much like the ones he
attacks when they originate on Capitol Hill." Bush placed 580 earmarks
worth $15.6 billion in a recent military and
veterans appropriations request, along with "billions" in the energy
and water spending bill. Some examples of Bush's
earmarks: $24 million for the Laura Bush 21st Century Library
Program and $8.9 million for the Points of Light foundation, a pet
project started by his dad. The Wall Street Journal reports that
the conservatives' "newfound
fascination" with attacking Congress' spending
stems from a simple reality: "They suffered badly over the issue in
2006." And yet the only thing that has changed is their rhetoric, not
their behavior.
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The House voted 227 to 189 to approve the RESTORE Act, restoring judicial oversight to the "surveillance of foreign targets outside the United States."
CALIFORNIA:
Los Angeles Police Department scraps "controversial plan to create a
map detailing the
Muslim communities" in the city.
VIRGINIA:
Gov. Tim Kaine (D) forms task force to fight an "unprecedented number
of home foreclosures brought on by a boom of risky mortgage loans."
OKLAHOMA: An Oklahoma legislator controversially claims the
Koran "condones the killing of innocent people."
THINK
PROGRESS: The coal industry sponsored last night's Democratic
presidential debate on CNN.
MINNESOTA
MONITOR: Conservative bloggers make unsubstantiated claims
that the "loyal Bushie" U.S. attorney in Minnesota is the target of
soft-on-prostitution bureaucrats in Washington, DC.
TAPPED:
"Successes" of President Bush's "surge" have "undercut the political
justification for
the war and undermined the exit strategy."
"U.S. forces backed by aircraft killed 25 suspected insurgents in
operations targeting al Qaeda militants near the Iraqi capital Baghdad,
the U.S. military said on Thursday."
-- Reuters, 11/15/07
VERSUS
"Iraqi officials said Thursday they were investigating whether American
troops had mistakenly killed some two dozen anti-al Qaeda fighters
earlier this week north of Baghdad."
-- CBS News, 11/15/07
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