My Fellow Democrats, Let Earmarks Stay in the Dustbin of History - Katie Porter WSJ op-ed
Every member of Congress owes it to the public to be a good steward of taxpayer dollars. Accordingly, a decade ago, Congress halted the process of “earmarking” legislation. It worked as you might imagine: Members of Congress would figuratively fold the corner of a page in a spending bill to mark the spot where they would insert funding for hand-picked projects to benefit their districts, not the entire country.
House leaders, however, announced last month that they are bringing earmarks back. While there are new rules to accompany the process and a new branding effort, pork-barrel spending should remain banned. I refuse to participate in this process. Normally, Congress determines funding levels for broad priorities, like the Highway Trust Fund. The agency that administers that pool of funding then determines how exactly to allocate it. Projects are given priority based on the overseeing agency’s determination of need.
The division in responsibility between the legislative and executive branches maintains a degree of neutrality in federal spending. But earmarking deviates from this process. Instead of a neutral government agency, individual lawmakers, facing re-election pressures, divert millions of dollars for specific projects, often based in their own districts. Inevitably, this invites waste, fraud and abuse.
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Recognizing a disturbing trend, Republican and Democratic leaders came together to shut the door on earmarks. In 2010 then-House Republican Leader John Boehner wrote in these pages, “Earmarks have become a symbol of a broken Washington, and an entire lobbying industry has been created around them.” In his 2011 State of the Union address, President Obama announced that he would veto any bill containing earmarks: “The American people deserve to know that special interests aren’t larding up legislation with pet projects.”
It is disappointing that the House has now gone back and unlocked the door to a system with a history of corruption and backroom deals that waste tax dollars. Proponents see earmarks as opportunities for bipartisanship; members in the minority might support legislation if it includes something for them. But few Americans support wasting their tax dollars on lawmakers’ pet projects. The solution to Washington gridlock isn’t misdirected spending; it’s an end to the dark money that encourages politicians to listen to donors rather than the people we represent.
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https://www.wsj.com/articles/my-fellow-democrats-let-earmarks-stay-in-the-dustbin-of-history-11615576424 (subscription)
Ms. Porter, a Democrat, represents California’s 45th Congressional District.
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