The Issues, No. 17 - Earmarks/Pork Barrel Legislation

I talked the other day about the annual delay by Congress in passing the spending bills for the next fiscal year (see "The Issues, No. 15 - Government Spending Bills"). I alluded to the fact that one of the reasons for the delays may be that our representatives use the spending bills as an opportunity to pay back their constituents or those who have contributed to their campaigns by adding to the spending bills funding for projects that will specifically benefit those individuals. These little items of funding are called "earmarks" or "pork barrel legislation" and usually do not have any relation to the bill to which they are attached. For a detailed description of earmarks, search the internet for either "congressional earmarks" or "pork barrel legislation". WikipediA has good explanations for both terms.

The major problem with earmarks is that they are funds in a federal agency's budget that are to be used for some pet project in some Senator's state or Congressman's district that are not usually related to the mission of the agency. They are funds often added at the last minute to the appropriations bills. And, as WikipediA says, they usually fit at least one of the following seven criteria developed in 1991 by the Citizens Against Government Waste and the Congressional Porkbusters Coalition:

Requested by only one chamber of Congress;
Not specifically authorized;
Not competitively awarded;
Not requested by the President;
Greatly exceeds the President’s budget request or the previous year’s funding;
Not the subject of congressional hearings; or
Serves only a local or special interest. "

So, obviously, the practice of earmarking is a little suspicious and underhanded at the least and I think it needs to be stopped. It's a practice used for payoffs that I think is sleazy and should have no place in the appropriations process. If a Senator of Congressman thinks a piece of legislation is necessary, it needs to go through the normal process before becoming law. I don't want my representatives in Congress paying back their pals with my tax dollars through a questionable practice and without the approvals of the majority of both houses of Congress and the President.