Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Keeping track of earmarks
Columbus Dispatch: When a person donates money to a politician or signs a political petition, the fact is noted in a public record. The politician who spends donors’ money to buy yard signs and TV time has to report it. Public disclosure of such transactions is essential to curb corruption in government.
Similar disclosure should occur when members of Congress use their power to spend billions in tax dollars for pet projects via earmarks. For the most part, though, earmarks have been slipped quietly into unrelated bills without public discussion. Most lawmakers value the opportunity to deliver pork to their home districts, so they scratch each other’s backs by not questioning each other’s earmarks. Last year, Congress spent nearly $16 billion on such projects, according to a study by Taxpayers for Common Sense.
A bipartisan group of senators and U.S. representatives has offered a welcome antidote: a bill that would require the House and Senate to set up public, searchable websites listing all earmark requests.
The Earmark Transparency Act would allow the public to search, sort, aggregate and download data on earmarks.
Putting the information in one convenient place could be the best check against abuse of the earmark process.