House Republicans Declare War on Secret Earmarks & Wasteful Spending
By John Boehner
"This week on the House floor Democrats in Congress will begin their efforts in earnest to hide pork-barrel projects from voters, budget watchdog groups, and Republicans who challenge wasteful spending. They’re gutting rules designed to help voters know where their tax dollars are going and creating massive slush funds for secret earmarks. And while they shut voters out of the budget process, they’re spending more with each passing day – an extra $105 billion so far this year alone. With the first four major appropriations bill on the House floor this week, Republicans are saying, “Enough is enough.”
Last fall, Democratic leaders repeatedly promised to lead Congress in a more “open” and “honest” fashion. Now they’re not only breaking those promises, they’re actively moving in the opposite direction.
It started in January when Democrats gutted Republican earmark reforms by allowing bills to be certified as “earmark-free” -- even if they contain earmarks. House Democrats exploited this loophole to pass a massive spending bill (“continuing resolution”) in February that contained hundreds of millions of dollars in hidden earmarks. The conveniently-flawed procedure was most famously abused by Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) who secured passage of an illegitimate taxpayer-funded earmark in bill meant to fund our intelligence activities. Murtha was caught by C-SPAN’s cameras threatening House Republicans who tried to object."
Read on.
"This week on the House floor Democrats in Congress will begin their efforts in earnest to hide pork-barrel projects from voters, budget watchdog groups, and Republicans who challenge wasteful spending. They’re gutting rules designed to help voters know where their tax dollars are going and creating massive slush funds for secret earmarks. And while they shut voters out of the budget process, they’re spending more with each passing day – an extra $105 billion so far this year alone. With the first four major appropriations bill on the House floor this week, Republicans are saying, “Enough is enough.”
Last fall, Democratic leaders repeatedly promised to lead Congress in a more “open” and “honest” fashion. Now they’re not only breaking those promises, they’re actively moving in the opposite direction.
It started in January when Democrats gutted Republican earmark reforms by allowing bills to be certified as “earmark-free” -- even if they contain earmarks. House Democrats exploited this loophole to pass a massive spending bill (“continuing resolution”) in February that contained hundreds of millions of dollars in hidden earmarks. The conveniently-flawed procedure was most famously abused by Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) who secured passage of an illegitimate taxpayer-funded earmark in bill meant to fund our intelligence activities. Murtha was caught by C-SPAN’s cameras threatening House Republicans who tried to object."
Read on.
posted by HeavyHanded at
9:18 PM
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