Budgetary "Pork" Not Good for American Economic Health

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) defines Earmarks as "funds provided by the Congress for projects or programs where the congressional direction (in bill or report language) circumvents the merit-based or competitive allocation process, or specifies the location or recipient, or otherwise curtails the ability of the Executive Branch to properly manage funds. Congress includes earmarks in appropriation bills - the annual spending bills that Congress enacts to allocate discretionary spending - and also in authorization bills."

We also know them in the mainstream as "pork." This is stuff that a member of Congress will add to a bill which he has promised a constituent, friend, neighbor, PAC member . .. whatever. Whether or not that bill has anything to do with the earmark in question is irrelevant. The bill will then be voted on with only the main topic of the bill discussed. The earmark will just go through without any discussion.

In 2008 budget, there were 11,510 earmarks totaling $16,569,863,000 for appropriations accounts. That's over 16 and a half BILLION dollars. It breaks down as follows:

Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies - 528 earmarks, worth $330,196,000.

Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies - 1,741 earmarks, worth $979,252,000.

Defense- 2,087 earmarks, worth $6,644,746,000.

Energy and Water Development - 1784 earmarks, worth $3,772,318,000.

Financial Services and General Government - 201 earmarks, worth $227,240,000.

Homeland Security - 123 earmarks, worth $410,718,000.

Interior and Environment - 565 earmarks, worth $429,237,000.

Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education - 2,234 earmarks, worth $811,936,000.

Military Construction and Veterans Administration - 190 earmarks, worth $1,177,245,000.

State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs - 4 earmarks, worth $23,012,000.

Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies - 2,053 earmarks, worth $1,763,963,000.

Ironically, the Legislative Branch has 0 earmarks.

Where did I find out about this? In order to allow for a greater transparency in Federal spending, and in accordance with the 110th Congress' promise of more disclosure, this is available on a government website within the Office of Management and Budget. Its actually called "EARMARKS" at http://earmarks.omb.gov. Is this a great country or what? Not only will they pass bills to spend our money, they have the info out there for anyone to see so they can say they have transparency and disclosure.

I wanted to see what kind of disclosure is available, so I checked by state and went to South Carolina. Under Department of Energy, I went to Energy Programs. I clicked on Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. I thought, hey maybe some of these earmarks are good things. The highest earmark, nearly one and a half million dollars, was for Hydrogen Fuel Cell Development in Columbia. Sounds cool still, right? But when I looked at the actual earmark, the recipient was "unavailable." Why is that? If they are going to be transparent and into disclosure, how come they won't tell you who the money is going to?

Investigating further, I found that none of the OMB budget disclosure earmarks had a specific recipient listed.

Some of the listed recipients found on other venues provided some interesting tidbits. For instance, Senators Brown and Voinovich in Ohio got $492,000 for Rolls-Royce to develop research on its solid fuel cells at the Fuel Cell Prototyping Center at Stark State College of Technology in Canton. Interestingly enough, Rolls-Royce reported an estimated $1.2 billion dollar profit last year. Instead of using about .04 % of this money, they would rather the US taxpayer do the investing. Heck, if we're the ones footing the bill for the research, we should get the profits from any batteries they come up with, right?

Then there is always the pork you sit there and just have to scratch your head and say, "Um, couldn't they do that for less? I could." In this vein, House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Jerry Lewis of California got $4.8 billion for air conditioning at Vista del Sol in Tewntynine Palms. This location is the military housing for the Marine base at Twentynine Palms. I have been out there and it can indeed get pretty hot. But $4.8 billion for AC units? I know if you really tried you could do this for a whole lot cheaper. I mean, if real estate developers had to spend this kind of money building houses with air conditioning, they would never make a profit. It just seems excessive is all I am saying.

Ironically, Lewis' own website discusses the need for frugality and oversight on spending. In talking about the funding bill for fiscal year 2009 for the Department of Treasury, the Judiciary, the Executive Office of the President, Lewis remarked, "Frankly, this bill needs more frugality, less spending, and a firmer hand with the taxpayers' money. While many of these programs are essential to maintaining a working federal government, we must be more mindful of our overall spending and not simply fully fund programs just because the money is available."

If only he felt that way about pork that benefits his own state.

It would seem that even though Congress and the government have called on themselves to provide transparency and to disclose more information to the public, they still believe they can spend our money any silly way they feel like. From wasteful spending to overspending, members use the budget as their own personal bank account to fund whatever pet projects they have, or to reimburse whatever supporter who contributed to a campaign they desire. And it is the taxpayers who foot the bill.

Just as an aside to this, in regards the current Presidential candidates, here is where they stand on the pork handouts. Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) has 281 pork projects totaling $296.2 million. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) has 53 pork projects totaling $97.4 million. And Senator John McCain (R-AZ) has zero pork projects in the budget.

Sources:
EARMARKS
http://earmarks.omb.gov/

Citizens Against Government Waste
http://www.cagw.org

Website of Congressman Jerry Lewis
http://www.house.gov/jerrylewis/june1720081.html