Congressman John Campbell's Blog - Green Eyeshade Blog

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Posted by: John Campbell at 2:31 PM

The President has an opportunity to send a clear message to Washington and its obsession with spending.

Before the recess, Congress hurriedly sent the omnibus appropriations bill to the President littered with roughly 9,000 earmarks. To no one’s surprise, many of these earmarks were not included in the text of the bill, but rather tucked away in the committee report, bypassing the new earmark rules.

On December 18, The Congressional Research Service (CRS), the nonpartisan research arm of Congress, stated that earmarks placed into committee reports do not have the force of law.

Technically speaking, Committee Reports do not carry the force of law, and the President is not constitutionally required to enforce any language other than that of the legislative text, and in this case he should not..

Earlier this year, President Bush and Democratic Leaders agreed to cut earmarks to less than 7,000. The Democratic Congress has clearly failed on their end of the deal.

The President must hold up his end of the deal and send a signal to Washington and the American people that fiscal recklessness will no longer be tolerated.

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bmavy writes:	Wednesday, January, 09, 2008 3:05 PM
Way to go!
Thank you Congressman Campbell.
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Spidey writes:	Wednesday, January, 09, 2008 5:17 PM
Small sample
Of what would happen if the Dems win all three branches this year.Hardly any money in here for global warming nonsense and they will funnel billions on this to a few special interests.Trial lawyers will also get a path to many more lawsuits. I don't understand why none of the republicans are running against this.In fact they seem to want to hop on the spending bandwagon.
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_SeekerOfTruth_ writes:	Thursday, January, 10, 2008 2:26 AM
So it is OK
for Bush to allow earmarks when congress is controlled by Conservatives but not by liberals?
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lexonex writes:	Friday, January, 11, 2008 4:21 PM
I've got your back Mitt..I'll be there..
Dear Call At Home Team, Thank you so much for dedicating time and energy to making calls in support of Governor Romney. The work you are doing, through the Call at Home program, made the difference in closing the gap in New Hampshire! The results were astounding and are responsible for making this innovative program all the rage as we move into Michigan poised for victory. 84,000 calls were made in just over 9 hours! Now, Michigan is a much larger state than New Hampshire, the primary is just a few days away on Tuesday, January 15, and the stakes are high … we need more callers than ever before. Please join us to make calls at the following times: • Saturday, January 12, 3pm – 8:30pm - EST • Sunday, January 13, 3pm – 8pm - EST • Monday, January 14, 3pm – 8:30pm - EST Reminder you can ONLY make calls during these calling hours. No calls can be made outside of those hours as the Call at Home program is shut off until then.
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lexonex writes:	Friday, January, 11, 2008 5:29 PM
Tom Monaghan for ROMNEY...
Domino’s Pizza founder and Catholic philanthropist Tom Monaghan has endorsed Republican Mitt Romney for president. In a release from the Romney campaign, Monaghan praised Romney as a proven leader in business, the Olympics and politics. Monaghan in 1998 sold his majority interest in Domino’s Pizza to Bain Capital, a Boston investment fund that Romney founded. “As someone who values the importance of faith in one’s life, I recognize in Mitt his deep religious convictions which will serve him well in facing the critical moral issues facing our society,” the release quotes Monaghan. “I believe he will stand firm on the pro-life issues and for the traditional family values that our country was founded on and which are so critical to the nation.” Romney’s Mormon faith was an issue leading up to the Iowa caucus, and he delivered a speech in early December addressing concerns by some religious conservatives about his faith. Monaghan, who once owned the Detroit Tigers, left Domino’s to create the Ave Maria Institute, which later became Ave Maria College, a Catholic liberal arts institution. The college became Ave Maria University in Florida, where he is chancellor.
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TheHistorian writes:	Friday, January, 11, 2008 5:38 PM
Seeker: Why is it OK
for Democrat pork but not Republican pork? The real point is Bush SHOULD have shut it off earlier, but did not. I hope he will do it this time. Incidentally, earmarks are fine. Some of our best technology comes out of earmarks. The problem is that there is an underhanded way to put the earmark in; that is in the conference bill, often because no one says who did it and the conference bill is an up-or-down, unamended bill. And the ethics of putting earmarks in that way are not good. Remember, that Nancy promised "the most ethical Congress". But you have sleazebags like Obey, Byrd, Murtha and Rangel who are violating the reforms touted by the Democrat leadership by not identifying earmarks and shoving this stuff into conference bills so that they don't have to stand up and present it and it gets passed in the dark of night. It also is not subject to your beloved PAYGO. THAT is what Bush may cut off, and I praise him for it if he does so.
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SonOfTed writes:	Friday, January, 11, 2008 8:27 PM
Report on it!
Someone should assemble statistics on each Congressional man and woman as to how many earmarks they add to bills each and every year. Start giving them a "pork-i-fication" rating.
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xpressit writes:	Friday, January, 11, 2008 8:53 PM
Every little bit
John: Good suggestion. I wonder if Americans have any confidence that they'd fix "the problem" anyway? They also need to pass the RTBA (read the bills act), which should help in the future.
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patriotic democrat writes:	Saturday, January, 12, 2008 8:58 PM
Here's the problem with this quote
"Earlier this year, President Bush and Democratic Leaders agreed to cut earmarks to less than 7,000. The Democratic Congress has clearly failed on their end of the deal. The President must hold up his end of the deal and send a signal to Washington and the American people that fiscal recklessness will no longer be tolerated." The facts are Bush and his rubber-stamping GOP Congress upped pork spending by 1000%. Yes, 1000 PERCENT. Along with the pork, spending by Bush and the GOP Congress was more than any other president in our history. Bush and the GOP Congress came into office with BILLIONS IN SURPLUS FROM A DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENT, and now America is burdened beyond belief with 4 TRILLION DOLLARS MORE in debt, along with mind-boggling twin deficits. So please, maybe now you might understand why America thinks Republicans are hypocritical whiny crybaby little pissants. Who also have a lot of sexually deviant members in their ranks, members who they don't even try to sanction, let alone throw out. In other words, NOBODY in AMERICA believes the GOP, on ANYTHING. Your party is doomed to the dustbin of American failed political parties, parties that fed the rich more and more while neglecting everybody else. -peace
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About John Campbell

John Campbell is a member of the House Financial Services Committee, and has taken a leadership role in addressing the country's top economic issues. Campbell serves as a member of the Joint Economic Committee, and House Committee on the Budget. He has a Bachelor's Degree in Economics from UCLA and a Master's Degree in Taxation from USC.