DUSTIN GAWRYLOW: SOLUTIONS FOR THE EARMARK PROBLEM
The big issue this week in Washington has recently been earmarks; what many consider "pork-barrel spending."
Earmarks allow members of Congress to legally trade votes with each other and dictate how bureaucrats spend rather than letting them bureaucrats run wild. They also allow the president to buy votes from Congress - again, legally.
TEA Party forces support Senator Jim DeMint's (R -S.C.) efforts to end this "log rolling" process and ban earmarks completely. Meanwhile, establishment Republicans and Senate Democrats want to leave earmarks alone.
Senator-elect Hoeven has come out against Sen. DeMint's earmark ban.
Believe it or not, there is middle ground and Congress must realize that the earmark-making process causes the problems - not earmarks themselves.
So, how do we fix the process? By simply requiring every earmark to:
- Identify each sponsoring legislator by name in its text,
- Receive a full public hearing to discuss the merits of the spending, and
- Be approved only as part of a single bill committed exclusively to earmarks; prevented from being snuck into other bills. (No war funding bill should include money for a tourist center.)
Once Congress restores transparency and implements these measures, rotten spending will be thrown out long before it becomes law. Without these reforms, earmarks should be banned.
The big issue this week in Washington has recently been earmarks; what many consider "pork-barrel spending."
Earmarks allow members of Congress to legally trade votes with each other and dictate how bureaucrats spend rather than letting them bureaucrats run wild. They also allow the president to buy votes from Congress - again, legally.
TEA Party forces support Senator Jim DeMint's (R -S.C.) efforts to end this "log rolling" process and ban earmarks completely. Meanwhile, establishment Republicans and Senate Democrats want to leave earmarks alone.
Senator-elect Hoeven has come out against Sen. DeMint's earmark ban.
Believe it or not, there is middle ground and Congress must realize that the earmark-making process causes the problems - not earmarks themselves.
So, how do we fix the process? By simply requiring every earmark to:
- Identify each sponsoring legislator by name in its text,
- Receive a full public hearing to discuss the merits of the spending, and
- Be approved only as part of a single bill committed exclusively to earmarks; prevented from being snuck into other bills. (No war funding bill should include money for a tourist center.)
Once Congress restores transparency and implements these measures, rotten spending will be thrown out long before it becomes law. Without these reforms, earmarks should be banned.
DakotaBeacon