Congressman John Campbell's Blog - Green Eyeshade Blog

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Posted by: John Campbell at 12:21 PM

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.

Email It | Print It | Comments (1) | Trackbacks (0)

View in ascending order

View in descending order

Rich L. writes:	Wednesday, November, 14, 2007 8:41 AM
Conclusion?
Your conclusion may be correct, John, but he was also being very honest (which is remarkable in itself) about the fact that earmarks from both parties will have to be cut loose to achieve a bill that the President will sign. His closing remark put the ball back into the members hands to either remove the earmarks or send a bill to the White House guaranteed to be vetoed. Your conclusion seems based on the past performance of Congress to never cut out earmarks, which may be the reason we need term limits or a way of ensuring only people with a financial stake in our country (i.e. pays income taxes) is allowed to vote. It is ludicrous to think that people that only "get" from the government should have any say in how much money that government can tax and spend.
Email It \| Print It \| Flag as Offensive

Note: Fields marked with a red asterisk (*) are required.

Salutation:

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Address 1:

Address 2:

City:

State:

Zip:

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.