I have long been curious about the public’s ability to pat their congressperson on the back for standing up and doing the right thing, when it wasn’t really all that hard to do. There are a lot of outgoing Democratic Congressman that are outgoing because they voted for the Health Care Bill, the Stimulus Package, or TARP.
Many voters commended the Republicans and rewarded them for standing up against wasteful spending and voting against things like the Stimulus Bill and Heath Care. These Republicans have sworn off earmarks (I think) and are vowing to put all of their focus on spending cuts. Curious that the Bush tax bracket extension didn’t come with any cuts, and the Republicans didn’t scream bloody murder.
We now as a society can rest easy knowing that they will do the right thing and reign in spending that had run amok with out of control ear marks…Not so fast! According to the New York Times, “Though… some Republicans thundered against pork-barrel spending and lawmakers’ practice of designating money for special projects through earmarks, they have not shied from using a less-well-known process called lettermarking to try to direct money to projects in their home districts.” So while they have cried foul over the unseemly practice of directing agencies to focus money on their district that doesn’t mean they can’s write a letter or make a phone call requesting as much. It is easy to vote against a stimulus package that you know is going to pass and then turn around and request money from said stimulus to be directed to your district.
In reality, I don’t really have a problem with the earmarking practice, although I for one don’t usually believe a Politician who says that they don’t want money spent in their district if it means lower taxes for all. What does bother me is the way that voters believe this is some principled stand.
In Charleston, SC Senator Jim DeMint was able to stand up and do nothing to help the Charleston Port get funding for a critical study. His principled stand led State Senator Lee Bright to congratulate him for taking a stand on principle by writing, “we learn that Democrats play games with appropriations, but I assure you that such games are not a partisan affair. Second, we learn that Jim DeMint does not play games but stands on principle even when it hurts — actually that is the only measure of principle. Third, we learn that erstwhile “conservatives” right here at home suddenly contract amnesia when rhetoric bumps into desire.” I guess he was referring to amnesia for Senator Lindsey Graham and Congressman Henry Brown who worked to get the earmark approved. It is easy to stand up for something you believe in when you are not the last best hope for its approval. It also seems less than sincere to call priorities of elected officials of other states game players because they have things they support in their home states.
I guess besides the obvious hypocrisy of no earmarks, when phonemarks and lettermarks are ok, the real troubling issue is that it appears elected officials are endorsing an environment where they don’t have to put their spending requests into actual legislation that vote for, instead they can have a bureaucrat make sure the money goes where it needs to go all while giving them the cover and the opportunity to rail against the wasteful spending. I just don’t see how not voting, but instead writing a letter requesting funds can be seen as opposition to a project. Yet, the real tragedy is not that politicians have found ways to condemn spending while ensuring that it happens, it is that regular citizens are rewarding them for this practice.
Like I said, why waste good political cover, especially if your voters aren’t going to call you on it.
