John McCain has been talking big about earmarks---about how bad they are, how often his opponent Senator Barack Obama indulges in them, and how he will eliminate them.
In the debate, McCain criticized Obama's point about reforming earmarks when he said, "Sen. Obama suspended those requests for pork-barrel projects after he was running for president of the United States. He didn't happen to see that light there in the first three years as a member of the United States Senate."
In the past, McCain has promised he'll be the messiah of earmark reform:
"I can eliminate $100 billion of wasteful and earmark spending immediately--35 billion in big spending bills in the last two years, and another 65 billion that has already been made a permanent part of the budget."
--John McCain, NPR All Things Considered, April 23, 2008.
McCain isn't per se lying when he says that he's long been against earmarks:
Sen. John McCain has been a crusader against so-called earmarks and says his opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, has asked for almost $1 billion in pork-barrel projects for his state in just less than four years in the Senate.
"Nearly a million dollars for every day that he's been in office! And that's change? My friends, don't be fooled," McCain said September 9.
Earmarks are requests for money by a specific legislator, usually for her or his constituency, added onto often-unrelated government spending bills.
---"Fact Check: McCain earmark claims examined," CNN Politics ElectionCenter2008
The problem is that earmarks are often a case of one man's trash is another man's treasure, and even Senator McCain has indulged in them when he's felt it was necessary.
This is another case of McCain mis-stating, misdirecting and misleading.
FACT: MCCain has voted for billions in earmarks and actually requested at least three earmarks and Palin has requested milions in earmarks.
- McCain Has Voted For 12,673 Earmarks Totaling $144 Billion In Just Six Years. In just six of his 25 years in Congress, John McCain voted for spending bills that included 12,763 earmarks totaling $144.408 billion according to the non-partisan Congressional Research Service, which the McCain campaign has cited as an authoritative source for the definition of earmarks. [Appropriations Bills From FYs 1994, 1996, 1998, 2002, 2004 and 2005 for which the Congressional Research Service totaled earmarks and for which John McCain voted for the conference reports. "Earmarks in Appropriation Acts: FY1994, FY1996, FY1998, FY2000, FY2002, FY2004, FY2005," Congressional Research Service, 1/26/06; Senate.gov; Center For American Progress, 4/16/08]
- Claim That McCain Has Never Sought A Single Dollar In Earmarks Is "Not True." "McCain claims to have 'never sought a single dollar' in pork barrel funding. It's just not true. … McCain in 2006 co-sponsored legislation that asked for $10-million for an academic center at the University of Arizona to honor the late Supreme Court chief justice William Rehnquist. In 2003, Frank noted, McCain won authorization to buy property to create a buffer zone around Luke Air Force Base in Arizona, and in 1992, McCain asked the Environmental Protection Agency to provide $5-million toward a wastewater project in Nogales, Ariz." [Politifact, accessed: 9/25/08]
- Wall Street Journal: By McCain's Own Math, His Running Mate Has Requested More Earmarks Per Day Than Obama. "It is difficult to compare Sen. Obama's earmark record with Gov. Palin's -- their states differ in size, for instance, and the two candidates play different roles in the process. But using the same calculation that the McCain campaign uses, the total amount of earmarked dollars divided by the number of working days while each held office (assuming a five-day workweek, every week, for both), Gov. Palin sought $980,000 per workday, compared with roughly $893,000 for Sen. Obama." [Wall Street Journal, 9/15/08]
- This Year, Governor Palin Requested 31 Earmarks Worth $197.8 Million. "But under her leadership, the state of Alaska has requested 31 earmarks worth $197.8 million in next year's federal budget, according to the website of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), the former chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee." [Los Angeles Times, 9/1/08]
The bottom line is that earmarks are a tricky wicket and not an area to attack. One can disagree with the earmarks requested, but you're not going to find a pair of hands in DC that haven't dipped into the earmark till.
The difference between Obama and McCain is the transparency of their agenda and the openness with which they've sought earmarks.
Obama is open about his earmark requests:
- Chicago Sun-Times Applauds Obama And Others For "The Courage To Disclose Every Earmark Request." "As valuable as it has already been to see the earmarks and their sponsors at the subcommittee stage, it's even more valuable to see the requests from members before they even make it that far. That's why we applaud Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, Democratic Rep. Rahm Emanuel and GOP Representatives Peter Roskam, Judy Biggert and Mark Kirk for having the courage to disclose every earmark request, whether successful or not." [Editorial, Chicago Sun-Times, 6/27/07]
He is also, despite what McCain falsely claims, one of the leaders working to reform earmarks:
- Obama Sponsored Bill to Provide Transparency and Integrity in the Earmark Process. Obama sponsored the Transparency and Integrity in Earmarks Act of 2006 that would prohibit consideration of an appropriation bill unless: (1) a list of all earmarks in it, the names of the requestors, and a short justification for each earmark are available to all Members, and made available to the general public on the Internet, for at least 72 hours before its consideration; (2) all earmarks are contained in the text of the bill and not incorporated by reference or directed in the committee report; and (3) all earmarks are germane to the bill. [109th, S.2261, 2/8/2006, Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration 2/8/2006]
- Obama Joined The Senate's Efforts To Ban Earmarks For A Year. Obama supported and voted for a Senate amendment that would ban earmarks for a year and he hasn't asked for any earmarks this year. [Politico, 3/10/08, CNN, 3/14/08; AP, 9/8/08]
The "truthiness" of McCain's earmark claims aside, I just loved Obama's response to McCain's hammering about earmarks in the debate last night by pointing to McCain's tax cut for the rich which would cost the taxpayers $300 billion. "If John thinks that $18 billion is a problem, then $300 billion is a REALLY big problem."
Posted by: Amy@UWM | September 27, 2008 at 05:22 PM