Where Will $800 Million of Taxpayers' Money Go?
Congressional earmarks budget money for seemingly wasteful projects.
Dec. 19, 2007— -- 'Tis the season for Congress to load up on goodies. Nine thousand projects costing more than $8 billion -- many of them approved without close scrutiny. Congress calls them earmarks.
Democrats put in some to help members facing tough races, such as $430,000 for local projects to help two Georgia Democrats and $1 million for an energy project sponsored by a Louisiana congressman who faces corruption charges.
Tom Schatz of Citizens Against Government Waste said, "By targeting these earmarks to these states and districts, the members of Congress have said we're going to use the taxpayers' money to help our majority stay in power at the expense of higher priorities in Washington."
Critics say some earmarks look like vanity projects such as $2 million for Rep. Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service in New York. Some projects may look slightly strange, such as $213,000 for olive fruit fly research in France. There was an $853,000 earmark for coffee and cocoa production in Maryland. Then the majority leaders in the House and Senate set aside $300,000 to fight weeds in Maryland and Nevada. Alaska receives $113,000 for rodent control. And the most notorious example was the proposed Bridge to Nowhere in Alaska, which asked for $223 million to build a bridge to an island with 80 people.
Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said, "People across the country, I think, are still angry. It's here in Washington that we seem to have selective amnesia."
The public outcry did scare Congress into making a few reforms. In the past, members could hide behind anonymity when they proposed an earmark. Now they must reveal themselves.
But this week, 298 earmarks costing $800 million, were dropped in at the last minute, leaving Congress virtually no time to study them closely. And some Homeland Security projects are identified only by location. There is nothing about how the money will be spent. St. Joseph, Mo., for example, gets $1 million. Detroit gets $1.6 million. But for what? Congress didn't ask, but perhaps it should ask where your money is going.
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