Pork earmarks in the budget - on PBS's NOW - on "now" nt

[burythehatchet]

[Blue_In_AK]

1. Here we go...

more Alaska bashing, I'll bet. Ted Stevens, King of Pork.

[Greyhound]

2. If you don't want to be bashed, get rid of the asshole.

simple :shrug:
I don't take it personally when we bash AZ, I just look around and say "you've got a point".

[Blue_In_AK]

4. Unfortunately, no one ever runs against him...

He and Don Young are so entrenched, it's frightening, although I think their hold may be weakening a little with the recent scandals. We're stuck with Ted until 2008, though. Maybe he'll die before then.

[Greyhound]

7. Same here the local Democratic party is too weak to win

(with obvious exceptions here and there) but strong enough to keep real reformers out. They just busted Pederson's son and it will probably mean another term for that shit-head Kyl. :grr:

[burythehatchet]

3. wow, 27 billion in earmarks.

[SpiralHawk]

6. Isn't that special. The Republican culture of corruption is vast

beyond mortal reckoning.

[WePurrsevere]

5. It was on the other night here. Here's a link for those who miss the show.

It was very good and gave me some info I suspected but didn't know before.
http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/earmarksetc.html

They talked about the way the earmarks are used as basically bribes and how they're inserted into Bills that must pass. It was also brought up how Representatives often don't have more then a few hours to actually go over often long and lengthy Bills so they don't always know what they're actually voting on.

From the above "NOW" link:
<snip>
(bolding mine)

Those who track money in politics have noted that the use of earmarks in appropriations bills has sky rocketed in recent years. The House Appropriations Committee receives about 35,000 individual spending requests per year. Citizens Against Government Waste estimates that earmarks have grown rapidly — from 1,300 in 1994 to 14,000 last year.

<snip>

Ridding the budget process of abusive earmarks has a number of backers in Congress — among the most vociferous are Republicans Tom Coburn, the freshman senator from Oklahoma and John McCain, and Democrats Russ Feingold and Diane Feinstein. McCain, Feingold and Coburn are among the members sponsoring the "Pork-Barrel Reduction Act " which "would allow senators to raise points of order against special projects, or earmarks, that are attached to spending bills without having been approved by the relevant committee. Under the procedure, which also applies to policy changes embedded in spending bills, 60 votes would be needed to override the point of order and keep the provision in the bill."

<snip>

According to THE WASHINGTON POST, "annual fees paid to registered lobbyists reached $2.1 billion in 2004...a 40 percent increase from 1999. For 2005, lobbying revenue is on pace to rise by at least $300 million." THE HILL reported in January 2006, that "PoliticalMoneyLine, which tracks lobbying spending, reported this week that companies and other special interests spent $1.16 billion to lobby Congress and federal agencies during the first part of last year." It was a new six-month record for lobbying spending.

Of course not everybody's earmark is everbody's waste. Use our collection of reference sites to track lobbying dollars, follow budget appropriations and priorites and make up your own mind.