Citizens Against
Government Waste Op-Ed:
Pork-Barrel Spending:
But That's Not All...
By: Tom Schatz,
president of Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) and
Orson Swindle, Former
Federal Trade Commissioner and member of the Board of Directors
From usnewswire.com
on the Web, August 29, 2006
WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 --
Following is an op-ed by Citizens Against Government Waste. Synopsis:
Critizing Congress for delaying the budget process until after the election.
The op-ed ties to together the lack of action on the federal budget,
lobbying/earmark reform, and Sen. Coburn's "Google government" bill in a common
theme: Prior to the election, Congress is concealing from the public how
their tax dollars are spent:
Members of Congress are unwinding from a "grueling" legislative calendar:
The Senate was in session for 101 days and the House was in session for 76 days,
compared to 141 days worked by the average American. After catching up on
their sleep, members will try to convince the folks back home to re-elect them.
Based on the August 8 primary results, incumbents better wake up. The
voters should also be aware that many members of Congress are preventing them
from making informed decisions on Election Day.
As in most recent years, Congress is woefully behind in passing the annual
appropriations bills, its most basic constitutional duty. In addition to
funding basic government functions, these bills will include thousands of
pork-barrel projects. Sources indicate that senators want to delay voting
until after the November elections in order to avoid the scorn and mockery that
surely would await them back home because of the pork-laden spending bills.
Pork-barrel spending is nothing new, but the deceitful act of purposefully
stalling the budget process in an election year shows how far the practice has
fallen out of favor with the general public. By avoiding these critical
votes, the members would hope to "look good" (or at least, not look bad) while
obscuring the pork-fest that would occur in an omnibus appropriations bill after
the election. An omnibus bill would combine as many as nine individual
spending bills -- a gigantic haystack in which to hide needles (pork).
As documented in Citizens Against Government Waste's 2006 Congressional Pig
Book, the amount of pork in the federal budget skyrocketed from $3.1 billion in
1991 to a record $29 billion in 2006 -- an 835 percent increase. Beyond
the obvious frivolity of projects like $500,000 for the Sparta Teapot Museum in
Sparta, North Carolina, pork has also played a central role in recent ethics and
lobbying scandals. It seems not a week goes by without a new revelation of
earmark abuse. In late July, it was reported that the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration (NASA) may have to shut down scientific research at the
International Space Station. Part of the reason for NASA's budget squeeze
is that, since 2001, members of Congress have earmarked $3 billion from the
agency's budget for pet projects in their home districts and states.
Efforts to clean up the political process after a scandal-ridden year have yet
to bear fruit. The House lobbying/earmark reform bill (H.R. 4975) sits in
an empty conference room with its Senate counterpart.
The Senate has yet to vote on the Federal Funding Accountability and
Transparency Act (S. 2590), introduced by Senators Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and
Barack Obama (D-Ill.). The "Google government" bill, as Sen. Coburn calls
it, requires the Office of Management and Budget to run a single public website
listing the names and locations of all individuals and groups receiving federal
grants and contracts. Such a database would be an invaluable resource for
watchdog groups, the media, and bloggers to expose wasteful spending, conflicts
of interest, and other shenanigans. The bill has 29 co-sponsors and has
been endorsed by groups from across the political spectrum.
The purpose of voting is to hold elected officials accountable. Yet
Congress wants to conceal from the public, to the utmost extent possible, how
their tax dollars are being spent. That may explain why S. 2590 has been
put on "hold" by an anonymous senator.
In the spirit of democracy and transparency, Congress should act now on the
individual appropriations bills and let the voters decide on the merits of pork.
Furthermore, the "Google government" bill should go forward to empower the
public with the oversight and accountability that Congress has failed to
exercise. Otherwise, Election Day ought to find many incumbents right
where they are now -- back home.
Contact: Tom Finnigan of Citizens Against Government
Waste, 202-467-5309; 202 253 3852 (cell) or
tfinnigan@cagw.org
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