In a recently published article in Government Executive Magazine Robert Brodsky uncovers that "the 20 biggest federal contractors received at least 80 earmarks worth more than $212 million." (See the chart below to see who garnered the most)

These big companies know how to maneuver through the system, and how the current system operates, that means they have lobbyists willing to make campaign contributions to members who are willing to sponsor earmarks.  They also know this is an easy way of circumventing the competitive bidding process, thereby undercutting smaller firms.

The House has established rules for transparency, requiring members to certify who requested the earmark as well as whom the beneficiary would be.  The Senate established a similar rule before the Democratic leadership watered down the rule so that the requesting Senator only has to declare that the earmark will not end up in personal financial gain. 

The 80 earmarks scrutinized by this report are only from members of the House;  meaning that roughly $5.3 billion were sponsored or cosponsored by one or more members of the Senate, without disclosure of the beneficiary.

I don’t know about you, but $5.3 billion is not a small sum of money, and if I am paying for it, I want to know where it is going and for what.

It is clear from this report that the earmarking process is far from reformed.

Recently, Taxpayers for Common Sense and Citizens against Government Waste (CAGW) released comprehensive databases highlighting earmarks in the Fiscal 2008 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (Labor-HHS) Appropriations Bill, H.R. 3043.

You may remember that on November 13 the President vetoed this bill and the House successfully sustained his veto on November 15.  Following his veto, President Bush stated: 

“This bill has too many earmarks   I set out clear goals for the Congress to reform the earmarking process.  The Congress chose not to put earmarks in bill text, instead including nearly all in report language, and they did not reach the goal of cutting the cost and number of earmarks by at least half.”  

Click here to view Taxpayers for Common Sense’s Database

Click here to view CAGW’s database

Recently, President Bush requested $196 billion to fund troops in Iraq, but so far the Democratic Leadership has been mired in disagreement on how or if those funds will be appropriated.  

Earlier this week, Sens. Tom Coburn (R-OK), Jim DeMint (R-SC), and John McCain (R-AZ) called on Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to divert earmarks in the defense spending bill and transfer those funds to the troops in Iraq if necessary. The defense spending bill contains roughly 2,000 earmarks worth approximately $5 billion.

There is substantial disagreement over these funds; however the diversion of these funds is one way of closing the gap.  The redirection of funds from earmarked projects could require permission from Congress, and it is a safe bet that Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) would not let this occur without a fight. 

Some of you may remember my exchange with Chairman Murtha about an earmark for a “Microbial paint shield” that the Pentagon never requested.  This single earmark is worth $2 million. Rep. Murtha could potentially lose this earmark in addition another $150 million more worth of earmarks if the funds are reassigned.

I am sure many of you have heard of the “Bridge to Nowhere”, but I bet you haven’t heard of the “Ferry to Nowhere”. 

Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) managed to slip an earmark into the 2008 Defense spending bill for what he cleverly called an “expeditionary craft”.  Despite the fact that the U.S. Navy has repeatedly said there is no reason to build this craft, the earmark would direct your tax dollars to the U.S. Navy for the purpose of building this boat.  Guess where this “expeditionary craft” will be used? Its sole destination is a remote area of Alaska and its only duty will be that of a ferry service. 

Not surprisingly, several family members, and current/former staff own land at the ferry’s destination.

The worst part is that this isn’t the first time tax dollars have paid for this ferry service. Even after the Navy rejected his boat as “impractical”, the undaunted Sen. Stevens continued to solicit funding to build it; earmarking nearly $50 million from 2002-2006.

After his infamous bridge idea, I guess we should at least be grateful this ferry service has a destination.


Editors Note: The "Ferry to Nowhere" runs between Anchorage and the Knik Arm.

I have consistently made the argument that earmarks exist to serve political ends.  Well, here is the latest example. Each of the conference reports for the Defense, Labor/HHS, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs spending bills have earmarks “airdropped” into them.

“Airdropping” is a way of adding earmarks to a bill during the conference report process at the last possible minute, effectively shielding the earmarks from reproach due to the lack of time for review before a vote on the floor.  Many times, these reports are hundreds of pages in length and Members simply cannot thoroughly examine every page in less than 24 hours.  This is a deliberate tactic to spend millions of dollars of taxpayer money with complete anonymity and zero accountability. I have vocally opposed this practice as have many of my colleagues on both the House and Senate side.

However, despite the outcry from House Members and Senators, 54 earmarks worth $85 million have been added to conference reports for the three spending bills I listed above.  Out of those 54 earmarks, 12 were sponsored by Freshman House Members or Senators in their first terms and 9 were requested and signed off by Senators up for re-election this year.

Coincidence or not?

Americans for Tax Reform, a non-partisan watchdog group, has put together some interesting facts about Chairman Rangel’s infamous “Mother of all Tax Reform” bills.  As you know, I have already written several times about Mr. Rangel’s proposal, but I had to share some of ATR’s findings with you:

Rangel Tax Hike Fact of the Day  #1 (Courtesy of Americans for Tax Reform)

“You don’t have to raise taxes to pay for an AMT patch or for full AMT repeal.”

Charlie Rangel sure does like tax increases.  In fact, his large grab bag of tax increases in H.R. 3970 is almost too much to keep up with.  To pay for full AMT repeal, Rangel suggests imposing a surtax of up to 4.6% on families earning as little as $150,000 per year.

Someone should have told Rangel that several Republican Congressmen have introduced measures to fix the AMT without raising taxes.

The House Republican Study Committee (RSC) has introduced H.R. 3818, the “Taxpayer Choice Act of 2007.”  This bill would repeal the AMT, and implement an optional “simplified income tax” system with a top rate of only 25% (15% for capital gains and qualified dividends).

Charlie Rangel has a choice: steal out of one pocket to put money in the other, or actually make progress.  He should patch the AMT by holding families harmless, and should work to repeal the AMT and replace it with a simplified income tax.

To access more Rangel Tax Facts, go to www.atr.org

I’ve always told you that earmarks cost a lot more than the nominal amount of the earmark alone.  They are used as leverage to get members of Congress to vote for bloated spending bills they would otherwise not support.

Here is undeniable proof:

This is a direct quote from Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, David Obey (D-WI):

Mr. OBEY. I know there are some people in this Chamber who believe that if this bill goes down, if the President vetoes it, that somehow a way will be found to compromise and still protect these earmarks.

I want to make it clear, I have been told many times by the White House that they have no intention whatsoever of compromising on this or any other bill that exceeds the President's wishes. If that is the case and if this bill goes down, then the only alternative left to us will be to bring in a bill at the President's level of funding.

I would ask every serious-minded person in this body, if they really think there is a chance of a snowball in Hades that Members' earmarks on either side of the aisle will survive if we wind up at the President's level of funding, I think you understand that is not likely. And so I think the fate of all of the work that has gone into this bill, the fate of every project that Members have been concerned about is in your hands.

I yield back the balance of my time.

What is happening here is that Chairman Obey is trying to encourage people to vote for an appropriations bill worth $606.4 billion; in order to save various earmarked projects worth millions.

Ridiculous.

Late at night, a new earmark was snuck into the Defense Appropriations bill. It is $3 million for a golf school for minority children. That's right. $3 million of your tax money to teach kids to play golf......out of the DEFENSE budget. The earmark was put in there by James Clyburn (D-SC). Not coincidentally, the money will go to the James E. Clyburn Golf Center. I'm speechless.

Yesterday, the Sunlight Foundation announced the availability of a new interactive map from Google Earth which literally pinpoints all of the projects earmarked by the Department of Defense Appropriations Act. This is a great example of how technology can help make Congress more transparent and accountable to you.

Through Google Earth you can quickly find out where earmarked projects are and how much they are worth. The best part is that out of the nearly 1,500 earmarks highlighted, many are credited to their Congressional sponsors thanks to earmarkwatch.org.

Now, I have made it very clear that I will no longer request any earmarks. However, if you look at the map of my district, you will find two earmarks, one from Laguna Niguel and another from Irvine that total $4 million. I did not make these requests. The earmark from Laguna Niguel is unclaimed, however the earmark in Irvine has 6 sponsors, most of which are not even from California. This highlights the very problem I have been trying to shed light on for the last year! Traditionally, earmarks are slipped quietly into huge spending bills without any accountability and corruption easily occurs.

With the use of this tool you can truly “see” where your tax dollars are going. 

To download Google Earth Click here
Then go to the Sunlight Foundation’s Website to access the Defense Earmark File

I just got back from a press conference this morning where Citizens against Government Waste (CAGW), unveiled their Earmark Reform Pledge - a list of 10 common sense reforms which addresses how Congress spends taxpayer dollars.  I was the first to sign this pledge which requires all members who sign to fully disclose all requests for special funding or tax benefits on their congressional websites.

One of the integral parts of the CAGW pledge calls for the support of legislation that will end the linkage between campaign contributions and earmarks.  In past blogs I have commented on the connection between earmarks and contributions. This is a step towards eliminating the corruption and abuse of the earmarking system. 

The CAGW pledge also requires members not to request earmarks or tax breaks for specific private entities.  In the fiscal year 2008 defense spending bill (HR 3222) there are nearly $2 billion worth of earmarks for 600 different companies.  These 600 earmarks would not be allowed under this pledge. 

In the real world (that means outside of Washington, DC) productivity is measured by comparing the output received to the effort/cost expending to produce something or perform a task. Or, as the dictionary describes it "rate of output per unit of input".

So far, the House of Representatives this year has taken over 1,000 separate votes which has surpassed the most recorded votes ever in the history of Congress. We also have been "in session" voting for 146 days so far, which is also headed to a record number of days in Washington, DC. So, that's the input.

But what about the output? So far, only 107 bills have been signed into law. Over half of these were either naming something (like a post office) or extending an existing law that was scheduled to expire. several more were simple land transfers from government to government. National Review has suggested that has been only one piece of legislation of any significance that has passed and been signed into law which was the increase in the minimum wage. This Congress is on track to pass the fewest bills since electronic records have been kept. Furthermore, Congress has failed to send a single appropriations (budget/spending) bill to the President after a full month into the fiscal year. The is the first time Congress has failed to do so since 1987.

So, arguably, this Congress has been the least productive Congress ever. After all, we have been in Washington the longest and voted the most while producing record low output. And they can't blame this on having a different party control Congress and the White House as that has been the case much of the time in the past.

By far the least effective Congress ever.......and I'm so proud to be a part of it.......not!

Since I have been in Washington, I have recognized the need for a revitalization and rejuvenation of the Republican Party.  Republicans have a proud tradition of upholding Ronald Reagan’s principles of liberty and a vision for the 21st Century. That vision is a America that espouses individual freedom, free enterprise, and common-sense values. Americans are crying out for leadership with courage, principle, and integrity.

This is why I’ve helped create a new conservative group, called Reagan21, which unites Republican leaders from both chambers of Congress.   Reagan21 presents a positive alternative to the current majority in Congress.   Members of this caucus are committed to several core values:  

• Integrity- Rebuild American trust and confidence in government
• Tax Reform- Increase personal saving and liberty
• Budget and Spending - Protect the family budget and maintaining a sound federal spending policy
• Entitlement Reform- Personal ownership of retirement security and healthcare decisions
• Ethics- Ending all earmarks
• Healthcare- Coverage for all under their own personal ownership
• Education - End federal intrusion into local education.
• Immigration- Enforce the rule of law and border security first.
• Energy- Make America energy independent
• National Security- Engage extremists by expanding human intelligence & covert capability.

Members of Reagan21 are committed to these policy objectives.  We endeavor to advance a new and invigorated Republican Party as best able to guide America’s future in a positive direction.

Expect to hear more from Reagan21 members in the future.  For more information go to www.Reagan21.org

To see the Press Release Click here