We talked about this on the podcast last night and CNN has an article on it today. It seems the new Pelosi Congress isn’t disclosing their earmarks like they said they would:
(CNN) — Despite the new Democratic congressional leadership’s promise of “openness and transparency” in the budget process, a CNN survey of the House found it nearly impossible to get information on lawmakers’ pet projects.
Staffers for only 31 of the 435 members of the House contacted by CNN between Wednesday and Friday of last week supplied a list of their earmark requests for Fiscal Year 2008, which begins on October 1, or pointed callers to Web sites where those earmark requests were posted.
Of the remainder, 68 declined to provide CNN with a list, and 329 either didn’t respond to requests or said they would get back to us, and didn’t.
“As long as we are not required to release them, we’re not going to,” said Dan Turner, an aide to Rep. Jim McCrery, R-Louisiana.
Nice.
This is your money they are spending at will. Contact your representatives and tell them that earmarks are against the Constitution, that the General Welfare Clause never intended for this type of spending and that fiscal conservatism is more important than re-election.
For the record, my Congressman is Rep. Sam Graves. He gave no response. Here is the e-mail I sent him this morning:
The Congressional Earmark Reform that was passed on January 4, 2007 requires you to disclose your earmark requests.
H. Res. 6, Title IV, Section 402(b) amends Rule XXIII by requiring members to submit written requests for earmarks to the chairman and ranking minority member of the relevant committee that includes the members’ name; name and address of the intended recipient or location of the earmark; the purpose of the earmark; and a certification that the member or spouse has no financial interest in the earmark.”
I know you voted against it, which is the first time I have seen you vote contrary to how I would. What was your reasoning?
Getting back to the point, I see you did not disclose a list of earmarks for fiscal year 2008. Is this because you are doing the right thing and not abusing the General Welfare Clause? I hope that is what is it. I hope you have not contributed to the 33,000+ earmark requests.
Earmarks, or as Madam Speaker would like to call them, legislative directives, are simply wrong and need to be done away with, the sooner the better. It was one of the sources of corruption that lead to the Democrats regaining power in the Congress. Continuing the process will not endear yourselves to the American people. The Republicans need to take a stand on this issue. They need to get back to the fiscal conservatism that Goldwater preached. Do that, and mean it, and you will see the approval ratings for Republicans rise. As it stands now, the people simply don’t trust Republicans to do what is best for the country, but what is best for their re-election.
I look forward to your response.
I’ll let you know when I hear anything from Congressman Graves. Go to the CNN article and find out what your representative has done in way of disclosure. If your representative has not disclosed any earmarks, you may want to write a similar letter.
UPDATE:
Automated response. Big deal. Let’s see if he writes me back himself. I’m rooting for him, but skeptical.
