Friday editorial: Hopped up on pork
The pork-busters who work for Citizens Against Government Waste were against earmarks back in the mid-1980s, before being against earmarks was cool.
A familiar pattern emerged: The fiscal watchdog organization’s annual spring release of its “Pig Book” would result in a flurry of news stories about the more egregious pork barrel projects in the federal budget. Lawmakers would weather the storm and then go back to doing what they did before: slipping ever more “earmarked” spending projects into spending bills without debate or oversight.
Earmarks began to be a cause célèbre in the fall of 2005 when the nation discovered the proposed $315 million Gravina Island Bridge connecting Ketchikan, Alaska, to the island where its airport is located. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, had slipped a $231 million earmark into the 2005 Transportation Bill to help pay for the project, which quickly became known as “The Bridge to Nowhere.”
Adding to the furor was the fact that earmark spending had exploded during the years that Republicans, the one-time party of fiscal conservatism, controlled both houses of Congress. Democrats got control in 2006 in part because of promises — still unkept in the Senate — to reform earmark spending.
As a result of all this, the release this week of the Citizens Against Government Waste’s 2008 “Pig Book” caused hardly a stir. Its key findings already had been reported:
• In fiscal year 2008, Congress stuffed 11,610 projects (the second highest total ever) worth $17.2 billion into the 12 appropriations bills.
• That is a 337 percent increase over the 2,658 projects in fiscal year 2007 and a 30 percent increase over the $13.2 billion total in fiscal year 2007.
• Alaska led the nation with $556 in pork per capita ($380 million total), followed by Hawaii with $221 ($283 million) and North Dakota with $208 ($133 million).
The big difference this year is that Congress is making an attempt, albeit grudgingly, at reform: It may not be able to cut earmark spending, but at least it can make the process more transparent. The House already has imposed new rules governing disclosure, but the Senate has been reluctant. Three weeks ago, 46 Democratic senators joined 25 Republicans to defeat a proposed one-year moratorium on earmarks.
his week, though, Senate Republicans adopted a plan that could move the Senate a little closer to earmark reform. It wouldn’t ban earmarks, but it would ban earmarked projects from being slipped secretly into spending bills and committee reports. That would enable opponents to challenge them. Senate Republicans also want to require that senators post on their websites a list of their requested earmarks, along with a justification for each request.
That would be progress. But the 48 GOP senators still would need substantial support from Democrats to enact the rules change. Only six Democratic senators — including Claire McCaskill of Missouri and the party’s two presidential candidates, Barack Obama of Illinois and Hillary Clinton of New York — voted in favor of the earmark moratorium three weeks ago.
Transparency and full disclosure make more sense than a full moratorium. As we’ve noted before, often the problem with earmarks is not so much the projects themselves, but with the secrecy involved. Even the most egregious project in the “Pig Book” can be defended — well, at least explained.
Of the earmarks noted in the new “Pig Book,” we are drawn to a $462,000 item for hops research, sponsored by several members of Congress from the Pacific Northwest, where the fragrant flowers used in brewing beer are grown. It turns out there’s actually a severe hops shortage in the United States. Given the number of beer drinkers in the nation, if the hops earmark comes to vote, we like its chances.
Kevin Horrigan is deputy editor of the editorial page. He writes editorials on local, state and national politics and public policy and also contributes a signed column to the Sunday Commentary Page. "The Old Sport" is a former sports columnist for the Post-Dispatch and for 10 years hosted radio talk shows on KMOX and KTRS in St. Louis. He lives in South St. Louis with his wife, Kate, and a dream of one day starting a professional catfish noodling tour. 
It is amazing what these guys on both sides can think up to do with the money the rob from us.
Pork spending though hardly matters when you compare the waste of social security, medicare and other “entitlements.”
This is a difficult subject. I’ve always thought that one person’s “pork” is another person’s Congressional “bringing home the bacon”.
If ever there was a glaring example of the slanted, one-sided bias of the Post, this is it. How can you write an editorial on earmarks and not even give a grudging, passing mention of John McCain, who refused to accept any such port? You managed to mention Hill and your hero Obama, you even mentioned McCaskill, but the one guy who actually is emblamatic of reform, doesn’t even get a blurb. Kevin, you should be embarressed, you are better than this.
In discussing this with Kevin, it seems I may have misunderstood his intention was to compliment McCain’s efforts and to point out how hard reform will be. I still wished McCain would have been named, but I withdraw my “embarressed” comment.
Bridges to Nowhere are wonderful. I bought a 160 acre plot of land across Cook Inlet for the purpose of having a place to goose, duck, brant, and moose hunt. It was on lake creek one of the best salmon fishing streams in Alaska. I paid $500.00 per acre. My friends and I could use boats to go across the inlet, and 4 wheeler to get in from the other side.
Imagine my surprise when Ted Steve4ns got a few hundred million to build a bridge across the cook inlet to MY PROPERTY.
I had sold my business interests in Alaska and had moved to Illinois. My phone began to ring from potential buyers. I sold. My long term capital gains tax was 4 times as much as I paid for the property.
Imagine the buyers surprise when the earmark was changed from building a bridge to completetly different usage.
Never look a gift horse in the mouth.
As you, the PD lacks relevant information and research. Although it is possible they may finally do a real report on this topic in their Sunday Newsmax if one of the DC Bureau writers actually does some work this week.
Why did you not mention that Hillary had 281 projects totallying $296 million and Obama had 53 earmarks totalling $97,000.
You also never reported about your endorsed candidate that his wife’s six figure salary doubled at the hospital when her husband became a senator. Wouldn’t Eric Mink have loved that had it been John McCain. And then to top matters off, this also was never reported by the PD:
Obama Earmarks For Wife’s Employer, Big Donor
Fri, 03/14/2008 - 16:00 — Judicial Watch Blog
Barack Obama touts himself as the only presidential candidate not corrupted by Washington politics but his earmark record contradicts that because he tried steering millions of federal dollars to his wife’s employer and the company of a top campaign donor.
Recently released earmarks reveal that the Democratic presidential candidate requested $1 million for the hospital that employs his wife Michelle and $8 million for a military contractor with a board member who has given hefty sums to his campaign.
The $1 million was requested in 2006 to build a new pavilion at the University of Chicago Hospitals, where Michelle Obama was vice president of community affairs. Michelle had already benefited from her husband’s flourishing political career with a huge salary increase that went from $121,910 in 2004 before he was elected to the Senate to $316,962 in 2005 just after he took office.
Obama requested the $8 million for weapons technology manufactured by a big defense contractor (General Dynamics) with very close ties to a major fundraiser named James Crown, a billionaire who also serves on the company’s board. Crown is also on Obama’s national finance committee.
The good senator also got nearly $1 million federal dollars for the renovation of a space center named after Crown’s grandfather, Henry, at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry. A complete list of Obama’s earmark record has been posted on his web site.
Thanks again for not doing your job Post-Dispatch, the most untrusted source of news.
Whoops - that was Obama had $97 million in earmarks. And I think Sunday’s news section is called News Watch, not Newsmax.