Pork barrel politics by a different name



Each addition carries a disclaimer that says a decision to spend these budgetary requests must be based on competition or merit.

AP reports that despite banning earmarks, tea party-backed Republicans are planning to quietly funnel millions of dollars to pet projects in their home districts using a mechanism they call "member requests." The difference between member requests and earmarks?

Of course, given that Congress controls the purse strings, the Pentagon won't ignore their requests, and Republicans, who are eagerly touting their "member requests" in their home districts, know it.

A provision added to Obama's budget request would provide another $2.5 million for weapons and munitions advanced technology, money for the Quad City Manufacturing Lab at the Rock Island Arsenal in freshman Rep. Bobby Schilling's Illinois district. The lab conducts research and development on titanium, lightweight composites and other advanced materials. ... Another tea party-backed lawmaker, freshman Rep. Vicky Hartzler of Missouri, won an additional $20 million for "mixed conventional load capability for Air Force bombers." Hartzler's district is home to Whiteman Air Force Base, keeper of the nation's B-2 bombers, and Fort Leonard Wood. ... Freshman Rep. Steven Palazzo, who unseated longtime conservative Democrat Gene Taylor in Mississippi, told voters during the campaign he favored banning earmarks, saying it would "help restore the people's faith in their government." After the committee approved the defense bill, Palazzo hailed the $189 million he secured, including $10 million to buy land for training facilities for the Army National Guard and $19.9 million for ship preliminary design and feasibility studies.

There's a decent argument to be made for earmarks as long as the process is open and transparent, but Republicans spent 2010 arguing that any congressional directed spending was the equivalent to corruption, no different than stealing money from taxpayers. One of their first official actions after winning the election was to pledge that they would ban earmarks. Yet here we are less than six months later and earmarks are alive and well, just with a different name.