Congressman John Campbell's Blog - Green Eyeshade Blog

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Posted by: John Campbell at 12:00 PM

An article published in today’s Roll Call, exposes the politics that earmarks play in Congress.

The article cites a letter from Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Chairwoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-MI) who explicitly states, “Inherently, we understand that this earmark process is not equitable… There are a few examples of where your help could significantly assist a few members in highly contested races.”

In February, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) released a list of 29 members that are potentially vulnerable, not surprisingly, 20 of those members received airdropped earmarks in the omnibus appropriations bill.

This letter appears to request taxpayer dollars to aid in political campaigns, which is improper and possibly illegal. The earmark distribution process must be investigated to ensure that no federal laws are being broken.

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schmuck281 writes:	Saturday, December, 22, 2007 9:08 PM
Re:The Earmark Game
Then there's the earmarks that are dropped for political purposes. One, which was attached to the Omnibus Bill was for funding for counties in Oregon that lost their income from timber sales when Congress sold out to the enviro-weenies. That one got dropped because it will give the Democrats a campaign issue. Those meanie Republicans withheld funding for schools, etc for counties hardest hit by the closure of the National Forests to logging. Forgetting, of course, that it was the Democrats that closed down the timber sales, and that the Democrats, as majority, have a lot to say about which earmarks get cut and which are included. You can bet that the Congressmen running for reelection will be hitting hard and heavy on blaming the Republicans for it though
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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.