What is the world coming to when a congressional Democrat and Republican agree on something? Kimberly Kindy of the Washington Post is reporting that Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) called for a permanent end to earmarking because members of the House and the Senate attempted to pack hundreds of special spending provisions into at least 10 bills in the summer and fall.
This attempt occurred less than a year after congressional leaders declared a moratorium on earmarks, congressional records show.
Kindy writes:
The moratorium, announced last November in the House and in February in the Senate, is a verbal commitment by the Republican leadership to prohibit lawmakers from directing federal funds to handpicked projects and groups in their districts. Lawmakers have tried to get around the moratorium by promising to allow other groups to compete for the funds. But the legislative language is so narrowly tailored that critics consider the practice to be earmarking by another name.
The efforts to resurrect spending on pet projects reveal the tenuous nature of current reform efforts. Two senators have publicly called out their colleagues and will introduce legislation Wednesday that would ban earmarking with the force of law.
Kindy reports, “I have heard too many appropriators say informally that they are very hopeful that we can get back to earmarking in the future with few restrictions,” said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), who is co-authoring the bill with Sen. Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.). “That has come out of the mouths of Democrats and Republicans.”
Good luck with ending a practice that is so common that Democrats and Republicans, who have been unable to agree on anything, can agree on ending earmarks or reinstating them. Both sides of the aisle have taken both positions.
It's too bad they cannot agree on a debt plan, how to end chronic unemployment and help citizens who have been suffering for years. It appears that pet projects will remain at the top, while many Americans will stay on the bottom.
Read more at the Washington Post.