Quote:
Originally Posted by kokoisland  Speaking of McCain and earmarks McCain's Fantasy War on Earmarks - Fact Checker
In part:
"The CRS study breaks down earmarks by different government departments, without giving a global figure. According to Scott Lilly, a former Democratic appropriations staffer now with the Center for American Progress Action Fund, the CRS study identifies a total of $52 billion in earmarks for a single year. However, much of this money is tied to items such as foreign aid to countries like Israel, Egypt, and Jordan, that McCain says he will not touch."
And:
"By most definitions of the term, the amount of money spent on earmarks is much lower than the CRS study. The Office for Management and the Budget came up with a figure for $16.9 billion in the 2008 appropriation bills. Taxpayers for Commonsense, an independent watchdog group that focuses on wasteful spending, identified $18.3 billion worth of earmarks in the 2008 bills, a 23 per cent cut from a record $23.6 billion set in 2005.
How much of this $18.3 billion could be eliminated is a "difficult question that we have not yet figured out," said Taxpayers for Commonsense vice-president Steve Ellis. The figure includes such items as $4 billion for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which could not be eliminated without halting hundreds of construction projects around the country. Another big chunk goes to military construction, including housing for servicemen and their families, which McCain has also promised not to touch." |
Ok. So McCain has promised to
not touch earmarks that are already in place, that he didn't ask for.
I'd be interested in seeing what the foreign aid ones are for, considering the situation we are in in the Middle East. And it looks like the $4 billion is
for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which could not be eliminated without halting hundreds of construction projects around the country. I wonder how much of the 4 billion has to do with the levies in NO? And another big chunk for housing
for servicemen and their families.
Hardly proves that he isn't interested in cutting
unnecessary earmarks. And it doesn't look like he was asking for anything self-serving.
Obama, on the other hand, can't claim the same:
Senator Barack Obama on Thursday released a list of $740 million in earmarked spending requests that he had made over the last three years, and his campaign challenged Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to do the same.
The list included $1 million for a hospital where Mr. Obama’s wife works, money for several projects linked to campaign donors and support for more than 200 towns, civic institutions and universities in Illinois. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/14/us...ign.html?fta=y
You can't make this stuff up folks!