October 2, 2007
by Clay Barham

An earmark is not an indelible tattoo on a pig's ear, but rather, a postscript on an important piece of legislation written by pigs.  Politicians looking for vote-getting paybacks important to constituents generate earmarks.  They take money from every American taxpayer just to pay for them. 

An earmark is a political reward for support for which all Americans must pay.  An earmark is never an essential part of the legislation, just payback for the politician and constituents.  If it were essential to all Americans, it would be included in the legislation.  It is a matter of satisfying an elected politician's self-interest.  He or she claims it as their political right to steal on behalf of their district.

The earmarking defenders say Article 1 of the Constitution gives Congress the power of the purse.  Earmarking, as they assume, goes along with that responsibility. Congress has the power of the purse. Earmarking, however, is a violation of a Representative's fiduciary responsibility as a fiduciary and steward of the National Treasury.  It is not spoils of war given an elected Representative to steal money from taxpayers around the nation to give to taxpayers in his or her district to buy votes for the next election.  Unfortunately, they and their supporters see it that way.

Under the new Democrat sponsored earmark rules adopted this year, a limited list of earmarks accompanies a bill's conference report.  One recent bill had 1,300 earmarks attached to it.  Would each of those 1,300 projects have any relationship to the original legislation?  Why so many bills moving forward with so many earmarks not adequately screened? 

It has been said that, "Members of Congress know their districts better than some faceless bureaucrat in Washington, DC."  Faceless bureaucrats in federal agencies waste so much money now that they need someone looking over their shoulder, which is congressional oversight.  They do not need Representatives adding to the waste

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Approving earmarks for indoor rainforests in Iowa, development of the perfect Christmas tree, or teapot museums in North Carolina, makes the faceless bureaucrat look frugal by comparison. Waste by federal agencies should not excuse congressional plunder. If federal agencies waste taxpayer's money, Congress should act by cutting funding and/or mandating improvements, not trying to be better at wasting money. The earmark spoils system is politics, not good policy. 

Appropriations bills give the majority of the earmarks to the majority party, and less to the minority party. Appropriations bills presented by well-positioned members give themselves many more earmarks than less powerful members receive. Is there a sound policy for this allocation that can change itself with every election?  We must accept that districts represented by well-positioned Members must have more than the districts represented by less seasoned Members. 

In the earmarks hanging off the bottom of appropriations bills, each member of the responsible committee is given an equal share of the available dollars, like the booty shared by pirates after a successful raid. Are we to assume that each committee member's districts have identical needs?  Try all we want, we cannot seem to paint some sort of noble picture for the practice of earmarking.  Elected Representatives kid themselves if they think the public is buying it.

Over that past few years, politicians have tried to increase the number of earmarks as if to grab more and more taxpayer money before the well runs dry.  The self-applause we hear from earmark recipients drown out the taxpayers in the country who have had enough paying for it. For every group and district directly benefiting from earmarks, hundreds recognize the whole folly as a transparent gimmick to assure a reelection.

American taxpayers deserve better than this.  Congress deserves better than this. Why not go back to the time honored practice of authorization, appropriation, and oversight that has served America so well, instead of the legalized plundering of the treasury by earmarks. Maybe we should stop voting in the crooks! 

That, of course, would be difficult if all we think of, when electing a Representative, is his or her promise to get the cash for the district and screw the rest of America.  If our motives for electing someone do not change, we are asking them to plunder the treasury until there is no more, or so much more is borrowed that everyone pays for years to come.

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Clay Barham [send him email] has been a candidate for the California legislature and a stand-in talk show host for ABC.  He was educated in physical and behavioral sciences, with a Ph.D. in sociology.  He is the author of five books, with his latest being Foundations of Modern American Conservatism and Liberalism: The Roots of Freedom and Tyranny.  Visit his website at http://www.claysamerica.com.