Some in GOP Still Think Earmarks are OK

There was an election last year.. right?  Republicans got the message from us on spending .. right?  Perhaps not all of them.

The Hill published an article on Wednesday that demonstrated that there are some tone-deaf members of the House and you’ll never believe what committee their on – yup, Appropriations.

Three Republican cardinals on the House Appropriations Committee say they view the ban on earmarks as temporary and that lawmakers should retain the right to direct spending to their districts.

Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID), Frank Wolf from Virginia, and Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.) all seemed to believe that the moratorium on earmarks is temporary and that earmarks are a necessary tool to create policy.

Members of Congress should certainly be able to direct the spending of the Federal government.  That’s why we have an appropriations committee and appropriations bills.  Ear marks are unfortunately more-likely to allow frivolous and unnecessary spending as they are typically used to bribe a member into voting for legislation they would otherwise reject.  If the bill contains an earmark for their district, they just might vote yes when for the good of the nation, “no” would have been better.

If a member of Congress wants money from the public coffers, they should sponsor an appropriations bill asking for the money.  They should make it clear who is spending our money and for what.  Hiding pork in other legislation is dishonest and leads to even more dishonest votes.

This is more proof that memory is short in the House of Representatives.  Thankfully for us, so are there terms in office.