No More Earmarks?

I can criticize Pres. Obama all I want but I want to make sure that my criticism holds true for Republicans as well. I have ripped Obama for his spending during this recession and his recent budget is no different.

“The truth is, our earmark system in Washington is fraught with abuse. It badly needs reform — which is why I didn't request a single earmark last year, why I've released all my previous requests for the public to see and why I've pledged to slash earmarks by more than half when I am president of the United States of America." Barack Obama, September 22, 2008.

From the Heritage Foundation…“The omnibus bill spends $12.8 billion on 9,287 earmarks. When combined with the early 2009 spending bills ($16.1 billion spent on 2,627 earmarks), the 2009 total comes to 11,914 earmarks at a cost of $28.9 billion. This represents the second most earmarks—and the second highest cost—in American history.”

It doesn’t surprise me in the least that Obama has again “lied” to his voters and the American public, however, what surprises me is that 6 of the top 10 spenders in the senate were republicans. From what I can see, the 2nd biggest earmark spender was Mitch McConnell, who has also criticized Obama for his spending.

As Republicans, in this recession, how can you continue these earmarks? I find it a bit hypocritical on the Republicans part to say so much about how in debt we are going to be but continue the, everyone else is spending so why can’t I, mentality.

Now, maybe some of this money is needed, who knows, but I don’t think in this time that you need to be putting you name out there for how much you’ve won for your state. And Obama, you said that you would cut the earmarks in half…well, so much for that. Anyone remember “Read my lips, no new taxes?”

Some reading that supported this post:

http://www.heritage.org/research/budget/wm2318.cfm
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/03/republican_earmarks_pork.html