They say you shouldn't speak ill of the dead, so I'll keep this brief.
I wish I could say that the King of Pork's passing will leave the U.S. Treasury a bit more secure from congressional plundering, but Sen. Robert Byrd taught his proteges in both parties well. Don't apologize for pigging-out, he taught them -- be damn proud of it.
By helping to turn fiscal vice into political virtue, he made pork-barrel politics not just respectable, but admirable. It's a darker part of his "legacy" that our grandchildren will be paying for.
Showing posts with label pork. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pork. Show all posts
Monday, June 28, 2010
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Pork for Pay, Part 2
As noted here Sunday, Colorado Sen. Mark Udall and U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn have both been linked to the latest pork-for-pay scandal in Washington, appearing on a list of members who received campaign contributions from the powerhouse lobbying shop PMA Group, which shut down recently after being raided by the feds, and also backed earmarks for PMA clients.
Neither man ranks high on the list, which could serve as a Who’s Who of Congress’s most notorious pork-barrel practitioners: Udall is credited with securing $2 million in earmarks for PMA clients and receiving $6,533 in campaign contributions from PMA since 2001, while Lamborn is listed as having secured $1 million in earmarks for PMA clients and having received $1,000 in donations. But their presence there, and connection to the next big lobbying scandal in Washington, demonstrates how pervasive, and bipartisan, the earmarking racket has become.
How their involvement might be received by fiscally-conservative constituents back home is unknown, since the Colorado media has yet to report on the matter.
It’s not the first time the two have been linked to pork-for-pay, however. The Seattle Times, in some first-rate investigative reporting done last October, also attempted to connect the dots between earmarks members inserted into a Fiscal 2009 defense spending bill and donations they received from earmark beneficiaries. A searchable database compiled as part of the investigation includes this page for Lamborn and this page for Udall, which seem to bolster the case for pork-for-pay quid pro quos.
Lamborn is credited by the Times with getting $7 million in earmarks inserted into the bill, while receiving nearly $40,000 ($39,797) in campaign donations from beneficiaries. Udall is shown as backing $11.4 million in earmarks, while receiving more than $100,000 ($101,522) in donations from beneficiaries. The Times scrubbed only one major spending bill, but similar links between earmarks and campaign donations could undoubtedly be found in every major spending bill passed by Congress.
The Jack Abramoff scandal helped shine needed light on this scandal, and Democrats won a majority promising to clean up an ethics mess they laid at the feet of Republicans. The PMA scandal threatens to do to Democrats what the Abramoff affair did to Republicans.
The House is expected to decide today “whether to start an ethics investigation into the relationship between earmarks and campaign contributions,” reports CQ Politics: “The vote could put majority Democrats and at least a few Republicans in an uncomfortable spot. They will have to choose between authorizing the House ethics committee to investigate the most delicate of political relationships or publicly voting against such a probe.”
The member pushing the ethics inquiry is Arizona Rep. Jeff Flake, who’s been fighting an often lonely, largely futile battle to curtail congressional earmarking. Flake had this to say on the subject in a New York Times op-ed appearing yesterday.
“But nothing has illustrated the insidious nature of Congressional pay-to-play better than the PMA Group, a powerhouse lobbying firm that imploded this month after word got out that it was being investigated over campaign contribution indiscretions. Over the past few days we’ve learned that PMA’s clients received nearly $300 million worth of earmarks in one defense appropriations bill. In what is best described as circular fund-raising, millions of those dollars made a return trip to Capitol Hill in the form of contributions to members of Congress.
The 2009 defense appropriations bill, approved last September, contained more than 1,000 House earmarks, dozens of which were for PMA clients. There was no full committee “markup” where such links could be examined, nor were challenges to the earmarks allowed on the House floor. Further, unless it’s been hurriedly scrubbed by an alert staff member, the omnibus appropriations bill scheduled for debate this week includes many earmarks for PMA clients.
Congress has managed to avoid connecting the pay-to-play dots by looking the other way. This has been easy to do. House rules require members submitting earmark requests to certify that they have no “financial interest” in doing so. But the House ethics manual states: “A contribution to a member’s principal campaign committee or leadership PAC generally would not constitute the type of ‘financial interest’ referred to in the rule.”
Now, thanks to Rod Blagojevich and the PMA Group, perhaps the days of whistling past the Justice Department are behind us. If we think we can rely on Ethics Committee guidelines written by our colleagues to shield us from corruption investigations, we are drinking our own bathwater. We have little choice but to decouple earmarks from campaign contributions. This can be most easily done by clarifying that campaign contributions do in fact constitute “financial interest.” I’ve introduced a House resolution to do just that.”
No matter whether the ethics investigation moves forward, or how it is resolved, constituents and voters will most likely serve as the final arbiters of whether this sort of activity is something they'll tolerate from their representatives in Washington. But that requires that they demand a full explanation from Lamborn, Udall and any others in the Colorado delegation that are linked to pork for pay.
Neither man ranks high on the list, which could serve as a Who’s Who of Congress’s most notorious pork-barrel practitioners: Udall is credited with securing $2 million in earmarks for PMA clients and receiving $6,533 in campaign contributions from PMA since 2001, while Lamborn is listed as having secured $1 million in earmarks for PMA clients and having received $1,000 in donations. But their presence there, and connection to the next big lobbying scandal in Washington, demonstrates how pervasive, and bipartisan, the earmarking racket has become.
How their involvement might be received by fiscally-conservative constituents back home is unknown, since the Colorado media has yet to report on the matter.
It’s not the first time the two have been linked to pork-for-pay, however. The Seattle Times, in some first-rate investigative reporting done last October, also attempted to connect the dots between earmarks members inserted into a Fiscal 2009 defense spending bill and donations they received from earmark beneficiaries. A searchable database compiled as part of the investigation includes this page for Lamborn and this page for Udall, which seem to bolster the case for pork-for-pay quid pro quos.
Lamborn is credited by the Times with getting $7 million in earmarks inserted into the bill, while receiving nearly $40,000 ($39,797) in campaign donations from beneficiaries. Udall is shown as backing $11.4 million in earmarks, while receiving more than $100,000 ($101,522) in donations from beneficiaries. The Times scrubbed only one major spending bill, but similar links between earmarks and campaign donations could undoubtedly be found in every major spending bill passed by Congress.
The Jack Abramoff scandal helped shine needed light on this scandal, and Democrats won a majority promising to clean up an ethics mess they laid at the feet of Republicans. The PMA scandal threatens to do to Democrats what the Abramoff affair did to Republicans.
The House is expected to decide today “whether to start an ethics investigation into the relationship between earmarks and campaign contributions,” reports CQ Politics: “The vote could put majority Democrats and at least a few Republicans in an uncomfortable spot. They will have to choose between authorizing the House ethics committee to investigate the most delicate of political relationships or publicly voting against such a probe.”
The member pushing the ethics inquiry is Arizona Rep. Jeff Flake, who’s been fighting an often lonely, largely futile battle to curtail congressional earmarking. Flake had this to say on the subject in a New York Times op-ed appearing yesterday.
“But nothing has illustrated the insidious nature of Congressional pay-to-play better than the PMA Group, a powerhouse lobbying firm that imploded this month after word got out that it was being investigated over campaign contribution indiscretions. Over the past few days we’ve learned that PMA’s clients received nearly $300 million worth of earmarks in one defense appropriations bill. In what is best described as circular fund-raising, millions of those dollars made a return trip to Capitol Hill in the form of contributions to members of Congress.
The 2009 defense appropriations bill, approved last September, contained more than 1,000 House earmarks, dozens of which were for PMA clients. There was no full committee “markup” where such links could be examined, nor were challenges to the earmarks allowed on the House floor. Further, unless it’s been hurriedly scrubbed by an alert staff member, the omnibus appropriations bill scheduled for debate this week includes many earmarks for PMA clients.
Congress has managed to avoid connecting the pay-to-play dots by looking the other way. This has been easy to do. House rules require members submitting earmark requests to certify that they have no “financial interest” in doing so. But the House ethics manual states: “A contribution to a member’s principal campaign committee or leadership PAC generally would not constitute the type of ‘financial interest’ referred to in the rule.”
Now, thanks to Rod Blagojevich and the PMA Group, perhaps the days of whistling past the Justice Department are behind us. If we think we can rely on Ethics Committee guidelines written by our colleagues to shield us from corruption investigations, we are drinking our own bathwater. We have little choice but to decouple earmarks from campaign contributions. This can be most easily done by clarifying that campaign contributions do in fact constitute “financial interest.” I’ve introduced a House resolution to do just that.”
No matter whether the ethics investigation moves forward, or how it is resolved, constituents and voters will most likely serve as the final arbiters of whether this sort of activity is something they'll tolerate from their representatives in Washington. But that requires that they demand a full explanation from Lamborn, Udall and any others in the Colorado delegation that are linked to pork for pay.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Federal Agencies will Fatten-up on "Stimulus Package" Pork
The "economic stimulus package" Democrats are streamrolling through Congress, in a rush to make a rendezvous with Barack Obama on one of his first days in office, evidently will also serve as a stealth federal spending bill, with tens of billions of dollars going to fatten the coffers of federal agencies. GovExec.com dug into the bill and produced the following list of agency goodies, all tucked neatly away inside -- expenditures that should be funded as part of the normal budgeting and appropriations process.
President-elect Obama vowed that this would be an earmark-free bill, understanding that Americans would be even more repulsed by the glut of spending if members of Congress began piling their pet projects even higher on the gravy train. There are many definitions of "pork," however, and many different ways to serve it up. And this certainly has that tell-tale aroma.
Here's the report from GovExec.com. Read it and weep.
Stimulus package contains billions of dollars for federal agencies
By Katherine McIntire Peters kpeters@govexec.com
January 15, 2009
Federal agencies stand to gain billions of dollars in funds if the economic stimulus package under consideration in Congress becomes law.
According to a summary of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill released on Thursday by the House Appropriations Committee, agencies would receive billions to repair and rebuild infrastructure, upgrade computer systems, repair environmental damage and improve energy efficiency. Billions more would be funneled through agencies to states and local governments in the form of grants. The following federal agencies would receive funds to directly enhance their facilities and operations:
Agriculture Department
$650 million for construction and improvements at National Forest Service facilities
$209 million for deferred maintenance at Agricultural Research Service facilities
$245 million to critical information technology improvements at the Farm Service Agency
$44 million to repair and improve security at USDA headquarters
$300 million for fire hazard reduction
$400 million for watershed improvement programs at the Natural Resources Conservation Service
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
$426 million to complete the agency's buildings and facilities master plan, and to renovate the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health offices
Defense Department
$350 million for research into using renewable energy to power weapons systems and military bases
$3.75 billion for new construction of hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers
$455 million in renovations to medical facilities
$2.1 billion for repairs to military facilities
$1.2 billion for new housing construction
$154 million to improve troop housing
$360 million for new child development centers
$400 million for new construction to support Guard and Reserve units
$4.5 billion for the Army Corps of Engineers for environmental restoration, flood protection, hydropower and navigation infrastructure (the committee noted the Corps' construction backlog is $61 billion)
$300 million to clean up closed military installations
Energy Department
$1.9 billion for basic research
$400 million for the Advanced Research Project Agency-Energy
$500 million for nuclear waste cleanup
Environmental Protection Agency
$800 million for hazardous waste cleanup at Superfund sites
$200 million to clean up leaking underground storage tanks
$100 million for competitive grants to clean up former industrial sites known as brownfields
General Services Administration
$6.7 billion for renovations and repairs to federal buildings, including at least $6 billion focused on increasing energy efficiency and conservation
$600 million to replace older vehicles with alternative-fuel vehicles
Health and Human Services Department
$900 million to prepare for pandemic flu, support medical countermeasures for weapons of mass destruction and cybersecurity
Homeland Security Department
$500 million for the Transportation Security Administration to install aviation explosive detection systems at airports
$150 million for the Coast Guard to repair or remove bridges deemed hazardous to marine navigation
$1.5 billion to construct GSA and Customs and Border Patrol land ports of entry to improve security and commerce
Housing and Urban Development Department
$2.5 billion for a new program to upgrade low-income housing to increase energy efficiency
Interior Department
$1.8 billion for the National Park Service for infrastructure projects
$325 million for the Bureau of Land Management for infrastructure projects
$300 million for the National Wildlife Refuges and National Fish Hatcheries
$400 million to address deterioration of the National Mall
$500 million to the Bureau of Reclamation to provide clean drinking water to rural areas (the committee noted the bureau has a backlog of more than $1 billion in rural water projects)
$500 million to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to address maintenance backlogs at schools, dams, detention and law enforcement facilities, and roads (the committee noted the bureau has a maintenance backlog at schools alone exceeding $1 billion)
$550 million to modernize facilities at the Indian Health Service
NASA
$600 million, including $400 million to put more scientists to work on climate change research, $150 million for research to improve aviation safety and Next-Generation air traffic control, and $50 million to repair NASA centers damaged by hurricanes and floods last year
National Institutes of Health
$2 billion, including $1.5 billion for expanding jobs in biomedical research and $500 million to implement the repair and improvement strategic plan developed for NIH campuses
$1.5 billion for NIH to renovate university research facilities
National Institutes of Standards and Technology
$300 million for competitive construction grants for research buildings at colleges and other organizations, and $100 million to coordinate research at labs and national research facilities by setting interoperability standards for manufacturing
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
$600 million for satellite development and acquisitions
$400 million for habitat restoration projects
National Science Foundation
$3 billion, including $2 billion for expanding employment opportunities in science and engineering to meet environmental challenges and improve economic competitiveness, $400 million to build major research facilities, $300 million for equipment, $200 million to repair and modernize facilities, and $100 million to improve instruction in science, math and engineering
Social Security Administration
$400 million to replace the 30-year-old National Computer Center
$500 million to process a steep rise in disability and retirement claims
State Department
$276 million to upgrade information technology platforms
U.S. Geological Survey
$200 million to repair and modernize science facilities and equipment
Veterans Affairs
$950 million for medical facilities (the committee noted there is a $5 billion maintenance backlog at the agency's 153 facilities)
$50 million to make monument and memorial repairs at veterans cemeteries
President-elect Obama vowed that this would be an earmark-free bill, understanding that Americans would be even more repulsed by the glut of spending if members of Congress began piling their pet projects even higher on the gravy train. There are many definitions of "pork," however, and many different ways to serve it up. And this certainly has that tell-tale aroma.
Here's the report from GovExec.com. Read it and weep.
Stimulus package contains billions of dollars for federal agencies
By Katherine McIntire Peters kpeters@govexec.com
January 15, 2009
Federal agencies stand to gain billions of dollars in funds if the economic stimulus package under consideration in Congress becomes law.
According to a summary of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill released on Thursday by the House Appropriations Committee, agencies would receive billions to repair and rebuild infrastructure, upgrade computer systems, repair environmental damage and improve energy efficiency. Billions more would be funneled through agencies to states and local governments in the form of grants. The following federal agencies would receive funds to directly enhance their facilities and operations:
Agriculture Department
$650 million for construction and improvements at National Forest Service facilities
$209 million for deferred maintenance at Agricultural Research Service facilities
$245 million to critical information technology improvements at the Farm Service Agency
$44 million to repair and improve security at USDA headquarters
$300 million for fire hazard reduction
$400 million for watershed improvement programs at the Natural Resources Conservation Service
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
$426 million to complete the agency's buildings and facilities master plan, and to renovate the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health offices
Defense Department
$350 million for research into using renewable energy to power weapons systems and military bases
$3.75 billion for new construction of hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers
$455 million in renovations to medical facilities
$2.1 billion for repairs to military facilities
$1.2 billion for new housing construction
$154 million to improve troop housing
$360 million for new child development centers
$400 million for new construction to support Guard and Reserve units
$4.5 billion for the Army Corps of Engineers for environmental restoration, flood protection, hydropower and navigation infrastructure (the committee noted the Corps' construction backlog is $61 billion)
$300 million to clean up closed military installations
Energy Department
$1.9 billion for basic research
$400 million for the Advanced Research Project Agency-Energy
$500 million for nuclear waste cleanup
Environmental Protection Agency
$800 million for hazardous waste cleanup at Superfund sites
$200 million to clean up leaking underground storage tanks
$100 million for competitive grants to clean up former industrial sites known as brownfields
General Services Administration
$6.7 billion for renovations and repairs to federal buildings, including at least $6 billion focused on increasing energy efficiency and conservation
$600 million to replace older vehicles with alternative-fuel vehicles
Health and Human Services Department
$900 million to prepare for pandemic flu, support medical countermeasures for weapons of mass destruction and cybersecurity
Homeland Security Department
$500 million for the Transportation Security Administration to install aviation explosive detection systems at airports
$150 million for the Coast Guard to repair or remove bridges deemed hazardous to marine navigation
$1.5 billion to construct GSA and Customs and Border Patrol land ports of entry to improve security and commerce
Housing and Urban Development Department
$2.5 billion for a new program to upgrade low-income housing to increase energy efficiency
Interior Department
$1.8 billion for the National Park Service for infrastructure projects
$325 million for the Bureau of Land Management for infrastructure projects
$300 million for the National Wildlife Refuges and National Fish Hatcheries
$400 million to address deterioration of the National Mall
$500 million to the Bureau of Reclamation to provide clean drinking water to rural areas (the committee noted the bureau has a backlog of more than $1 billion in rural water projects)
$500 million to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to address maintenance backlogs at schools, dams, detention and law enforcement facilities, and roads (the committee noted the bureau has a maintenance backlog at schools alone exceeding $1 billion)
$550 million to modernize facilities at the Indian Health Service
NASA
$600 million, including $400 million to put more scientists to work on climate change research, $150 million for research to improve aviation safety and Next-Generation air traffic control, and $50 million to repair NASA centers damaged by hurricanes and floods last year
National Institutes of Health
$2 billion, including $1.5 billion for expanding jobs in biomedical research and $500 million to implement the repair and improvement strategic plan developed for NIH campuses
$1.5 billion for NIH to renovate university research facilities
National Institutes of Standards and Technology
$300 million for competitive construction grants for research buildings at colleges and other organizations, and $100 million to coordinate research at labs and national research facilities by setting interoperability standards for manufacturing
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
$600 million for satellite development and acquisitions
$400 million for habitat restoration projects
National Science Foundation
$3 billion, including $2 billion for expanding employment opportunities in science and engineering to meet environmental challenges and improve economic competitiveness, $400 million to build major research facilities, $300 million for equipment, $200 million to repair and modernize facilities, and $100 million to improve instruction in science, math and engineering
Social Security Administration
$400 million to replace the 30-year-old National Computer Center
$500 million to process a steep rise in disability and retirement claims
State Department
$276 million to upgrade information technology platforms
U.S. Geological Survey
$200 million to repair and modernize science facilities and equipment
Veterans Affairs
$950 million for medical facilities (the committee noted there is a $5 billion maintenance backlog at the agency's 153 facilities)
$50 million to make monument and memorial repairs at veterans cemeteries
Monday, June 23, 2008
American Contrarian adapted for The Rocky
A piece of mine appeared in Saturday’s Rocky Mountain News, which was a slightly refined version of something I posted on The American Contrarian a few weeks back (just in case my army of loyal readers missed it). I thank the good folks at the Rocky's editorial page for running it. Neither my original post here, nor the Rocky version, included several key sentences I wanted tacked on to the end, however. They should read as follows:
“No major rules changes or legislative actions are needed to permanently
end the earmarking epidemic. Members of Congress merely need to make a pledge,
individually and collectively, to strictly follow existing budget rules and stop
taking self-serving shortcuts.”
Monday, June 9, 2008
Profiles in porkage
Three news stories, appearing in different parts of the country on the same day, put a human face on the congressional earmarking issue. It’s not a pretty face, to be sure; but a face all the same.
One story profiles a longtime member of Congress who is damn proud of his ability to “bring home the bacon.” He even seems to have kept a tally of his raids on the treasury and brags of personally delivering $7 billion in pork to the district – that’s illion with a capital B, he says. And his constituents evidently loved him for it, given his long tenure. Meet retired Rep. Ken Gray: http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080609/NEWS01/806090344/1006. Here’s a key quote. "If building hospitals, nursing homes and highways is pork, then I say pass the plate," Gray said, laughing. "Anybody who tells you that the greatest beneficiary of a pork barrel is the provider of the pork is wrong."
Perhaps I’m not alone in being thankful this guy retired.
The second story profiles what might be called the reluctant porker; a member of Congress who claims to oppose most earmarking on principle, recognizing that it’s a corruption of the budget process, but who indulges nonetheless, because he is a practical person. As long as everyone else is doing it, he figures, why shouldn’t I dunk my biscuit in the gravy bowl too? Meet New Jersey Rep. Frank A. LoBiondo: http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080609/NEWS01/806090344/1006. Here’s a key quote: "I don't believe the people that I represent should be unfairly disadvantaged by my self-imposing a moratorium when everybody else will be advocating on behalf of their constituents," says LoBiondo, who hastens to add that every earmark he sponsors is carefully vetted. Vetted by whom? LoBiondo and his staff, of course.
Finally, you have the relatively rare member of Congress who finds the feeding frenzy repugnant and declines to participate, hoping his constituents will reward him for his fiscal restraint. He may manage to stay in office, but most colleagues give him a wide berth in the cloakroom and at cocktail parties; sort of like the one clean cop in a dirty precinct. Meet California Rep. Devi Nunes: http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/654409.html. Here’s a key quote: "Earmark decisions are made in smoke-filled rooms by out-of-touch people who have a record of making poor decisions," Nunes said. "The process has enabled corrupt politicians to exploit their offices and is largely based on political patronage." Naturally, this sort of talk, though it has the ring of truth to it, doesn’t make Nunes popular with colleagues. Some suggest he’s even been targeted for retaliation, after crossing swords on a fiscal issue with Rep Jerry Lewis, a prodigious porker who chaired the House Appropriations Committee.
There you have it. Three different members of Congress, three different attitudes toward earmarking. And each tailors his position to fit a constituency.
Some Americans expect their congressperson to plunder at will. They seem driven by a sense of entitlement to get “their fair share” -- though it’s frequently much more than their fair share. Other Americans, though they understand earmarking is wasteful, corrupting and contributes to budget deficits, are pragmatists, who feel (with some justification) they’ll be taken advantage of by the plunderers if their man or woman in Congress doesn’t play the game.
Still others – a decided minority, in seems -- make the connection between high taxes, runaway spending and the total lack of fiscal discipline earmarking bespeaks. This latter group hopes, perhaps forlornly, that a modicum of fiscal discipline might be restored if their representative in Washington, while looking out for their legitimate interests, refrains from trying to bribe them with their own money -- which is what the earmarking racket amounts to.
Which mindset prevails will largely determine whether Congress ever kicks the earmarking habit.
One story profiles a longtime member of Congress who is damn proud of his ability to “bring home the bacon.” He even seems to have kept a tally of his raids on the treasury and brags of personally delivering $7 billion in pork to the district – that’s illion with a capital B, he says. And his constituents evidently loved him for it, given his long tenure. Meet retired Rep. Ken Gray: http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080609/NEWS01/806090344/1006. Here’s a key quote. "If building hospitals, nursing homes and highways is pork, then I say pass the plate," Gray said, laughing. "Anybody who tells you that the greatest beneficiary of a pork barrel is the provider of the pork is wrong."
Perhaps I’m not alone in being thankful this guy retired.
The second story profiles what might be called the reluctant porker; a member of Congress who claims to oppose most earmarking on principle, recognizing that it’s a corruption of the budget process, but who indulges nonetheless, because he is a practical person. As long as everyone else is doing it, he figures, why shouldn’t I dunk my biscuit in the gravy bowl too? Meet New Jersey Rep. Frank A. LoBiondo: http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080609/NEWS01/806090344/1006. Here’s a key quote: "I don't believe the people that I represent should be unfairly disadvantaged by my self-imposing a moratorium when everybody else will be advocating on behalf of their constituents," says LoBiondo, who hastens to add that every earmark he sponsors is carefully vetted. Vetted by whom? LoBiondo and his staff, of course.
Finally, you have the relatively rare member of Congress who finds the feeding frenzy repugnant and declines to participate, hoping his constituents will reward him for his fiscal restraint. He may manage to stay in office, but most colleagues give him a wide berth in the cloakroom and at cocktail parties; sort of like the one clean cop in a dirty precinct. Meet California Rep. Devi Nunes: http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/654409.html. Here’s a key quote: "Earmark decisions are made in smoke-filled rooms by out-of-touch people who have a record of making poor decisions," Nunes said. "The process has enabled corrupt politicians to exploit their offices and is largely based on political patronage." Naturally, this sort of talk, though it has the ring of truth to it, doesn’t make Nunes popular with colleagues. Some suggest he’s even been targeted for retaliation, after crossing swords on a fiscal issue with Rep Jerry Lewis, a prodigious porker who chaired the House Appropriations Committee.
There you have it. Three different members of Congress, three different attitudes toward earmarking. And each tailors his position to fit a constituency.
Some Americans expect their congressperson to plunder at will. They seem driven by a sense of entitlement to get “their fair share” -- though it’s frequently much more than their fair share. Other Americans, though they understand earmarking is wasteful, corrupting and contributes to budget deficits, are pragmatists, who feel (with some justification) they’ll be taken advantage of by the plunderers if their man or woman in Congress doesn’t play the game.
Still others – a decided minority, in seems -- make the connection between high taxes, runaway spending and the total lack of fiscal discipline earmarking bespeaks. This latter group hopes, perhaps forlornly, that a modicum of fiscal discipline might be restored if their representative in Washington, while looking out for their legitimate interests, refrains from trying to bribe them with their own money -- which is what the earmarking racket amounts to.
Which mindset prevails will largely determine whether Congress ever kicks the earmarking habit.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Why most congressional earmarking reforms just won't work
Years ago, when I was handling media relations for Citizens Against Government Waste, it was believed that if you shined a bright enough light on the practice of congressional earmarking, and you shamed members of Congress who conducted these personal raids on the U.S. Treasury, you could help clean-up the budget mess. That belief was rather naïve, I now realize.
The theory falls apart because you can’t shame the shameless. And that’s why the vaunted earmark reforms we’ve been hearing and reading about, at least since the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal increased public awareness of the issue, will fail to deliver significant results. Though beneficial, the new disclosure rules being debated by the House and Senate won’t do much good because members, masterful spinners that they are, have succeeded in turning fiscal vice into political virtue. Nothing will change until the American people begin to see the issue clearly and consistently – and until they stop serving as accomplices.
I keep seeing media references to the “public outrage” earmarks supposedly evoke. Where is it? The most notorious pork-barrel practitioners in Congress are routinely and reflexively re-elected (it’s that longevity, in fact, that’s given them a front row seat at the trough). Most are lionized by their constituents for their ability to “bring home the bacon.” I used to read the newspaper clips that came in after our annual release of the Pig Book, a report designed to shame politicians and educate the public. Far from outrage, most of the home state reaction could be summed up as follows: “If this is pork, we want another heaping helping!”
I began to recognize that many Americans were indignant about the obviously-parochial, arguably-idiotic pet projects landed by other members of Congress, but saw similar projects scored by their own Congressperson as legitimate federal expenditures, not to mention just desserts. The report provoked rationalizing en masse. I never saw a member of Congress pay any political price for pigging out.
Back then, a few members of Congress bristled at being called out as porkers. But as years went by, I sensed that some members actually relished the Pig Book’s release, understanding that they and their constituents could take a certain pride in their pork barrel tally, since it served as one tangible measure of political clout. The sanguine editorial reactions, along with the willingness of constituents to justify their own representative’s raid on the Treasury, removed whatever stigma once attached to pork-barrel plundering. And it became a perverse point of pride. Until this changes, little else will.
Here’s my thumbnail reaction to the “reforms” being debated by Congress.
One provision in the House bill “requires any bill containing earmarks be accompanied by a list identifying each one and the member or members who requested it,” according to the AP. I just explained why that’s ineffectual. Creating such a list merely reduces the work load for Congressional press secretaries, who are spared the need to crank out the customary press releases bragging about how their bosses “brought home” this or that federal spending project.
Another provision requires the member who requests an earmark “to provide a letter identifying the earmark and the entity to receive the funds, along with a certification that neither the requesting member nor their spouse would benefit financially,” report the AP. Disclosure of financial conflicts could be useful, only if serious, perhaps even criminal sanctions result from failing to disclose. Referring such matters to the ethics committee will not serve as a deterrent. The most corrupt members of Congress may seek some direct financial gain from earmarks, but most are content to reap the real but far less visible rewards, including the gratitude of voters and patronage ties such projects generate. That's critical to the incumbency protection racket. Lining their pockets is less important to most members than remaining a lifetime member of this prestigious club. There's plenty of opportunity for cashing-in after retirement.
Another rule change would prohibit earmarks “from being used to influence other members,” according to the AP. But policing this would be nearly impossible. The congressional pecking order is obvious enough to most insiders, and so much of the institution’s business transpires behind closed doors, that overt acts of intimidation (or pork-barrel bribery) are rarely evident. Junior members don’t have to be told what might happen if they cross senior members -- who also happen to control appropriations committees. Catching one member in the act of influencing another, using earmarks as leverage, isn’t as easy as it sounds in an institution where influencing colleagues is a legitimate part of the game. And without adequate enforcement mechanisms, this won’t have much impact.
The only reform worthy of the name -- a proposed moratorium on earmarks until a bipartisan committee proposes new rules changes -- fell along the wayside late last week, regrettably. This isn’t the solution, of course, since the study committee, if it simply mirrors Congress at large, is likely to produce recommendations just as anemic as those critiqued here. But a moratorium, if it stuck, would at least grant taxpayers a temporary reprieve. And if the committee’s work, staying true to congressional form, took one, two or three years to complete, that would save taxpayers tens of billions of dollars in unnecessary, frivolous and wasteful government spending.
Given how endemic earmarking has become, and how hard it will be to change that as long as average Americans remain complicit in the corruption, even a temporary timeout is probably the best we can hope for.
The theory falls apart because you can’t shame the shameless. And that’s why the vaunted earmark reforms we’ve been hearing and reading about, at least since the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal increased public awareness of the issue, will fail to deliver significant results. Though beneficial, the new disclosure rules being debated by the House and Senate won’t do much good because members, masterful spinners that they are, have succeeded in turning fiscal vice into political virtue. Nothing will change until the American people begin to see the issue clearly and consistently – and until they stop serving as accomplices.
I keep seeing media references to the “public outrage” earmarks supposedly evoke. Where is it? The most notorious pork-barrel practitioners in Congress are routinely and reflexively re-elected (it’s that longevity, in fact, that’s given them a front row seat at the trough). Most are lionized by their constituents for their ability to “bring home the bacon.” I used to read the newspaper clips that came in after our annual release of the Pig Book, a report designed to shame politicians and educate the public. Far from outrage, most of the home state reaction could be summed up as follows: “If this is pork, we want another heaping helping!”
I began to recognize that many Americans were indignant about the obviously-parochial, arguably-idiotic pet projects landed by other members of Congress, but saw similar projects scored by their own Congressperson as legitimate federal expenditures, not to mention just desserts. The report provoked rationalizing en masse. I never saw a member of Congress pay any political price for pigging out.
Back then, a few members of Congress bristled at being called out as porkers. But as years went by, I sensed that some members actually relished the Pig Book’s release, understanding that they and their constituents could take a certain pride in their pork barrel tally, since it served as one tangible measure of political clout. The sanguine editorial reactions, along with the willingness of constituents to justify their own representative’s raid on the Treasury, removed whatever stigma once attached to pork-barrel plundering. And it became a perverse point of pride. Until this changes, little else will.
Here’s my thumbnail reaction to the “reforms” being debated by Congress.
One provision in the House bill “requires any bill containing earmarks be accompanied by a list identifying each one and the member or members who requested it,” according to the AP. I just explained why that’s ineffectual. Creating such a list merely reduces the work load for Congressional press secretaries, who are spared the need to crank out the customary press releases bragging about how their bosses “brought home” this or that federal spending project.
Another provision requires the member who requests an earmark “to provide a letter identifying the earmark and the entity to receive the funds, along with a certification that neither the requesting member nor their spouse would benefit financially,” report the AP. Disclosure of financial conflicts could be useful, only if serious, perhaps even criminal sanctions result from failing to disclose. Referring such matters to the ethics committee will not serve as a deterrent. The most corrupt members of Congress may seek some direct financial gain from earmarks, but most are content to reap the real but far less visible rewards, including the gratitude of voters and patronage ties such projects generate. That's critical to the incumbency protection racket. Lining their pockets is less important to most members than remaining a lifetime member of this prestigious club. There's plenty of opportunity for cashing-in after retirement.
Another rule change would prohibit earmarks “from being used to influence other members,” according to the AP. But policing this would be nearly impossible. The congressional pecking order is obvious enough to most insiders, and so much of the institution’s business transpires behind closed doors, that overt acts of intimidation (or pork-barrel bribery) are rarely evident. Junior members don’t have to be told what might happen if they cross senior members -- who also happen to control appropriations committees. Catching one member in the act of influencing another, using earmarks as leverage, isn’t as easy as it sounds in an institution where influencing colleagues is a legitimate part of the game. And without adequate enforcement mechanisms, this won’t have much impact.
The only reform worthy of the name -- a proposed moratorium on earmarks until a bipartisan committee proposes new rules changes -- fell along the wayside late last week, regrettably. This isn’t the solution, of course, since the study committee, if it simply mirrors Congress at large, is likely to produce recommendations just as anemic as those critiqued here. But a moratorium, if it stuck, would at least grant taxpayers a temporary reprieve. And if the committee’s work, staying true to congressional form, took one, two or three years to complete, that would save taxpayers tens of billions of dollars in unnecessary, frivolous and wasteful government spending.
Given how endemic earmarking has become, and how hard it will be to change that as long as average Americans remain complicit in the corruption, even a temporary timeout is probably the best we can hope for.
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