What House Democrats mean by “earmark reform” is becoming clearer by the day. The media has been full of reports for a week about the $21.3 billion worth of pork barrel add-ons contained in the House version of the Iraq emergency supplemental funding bill.
But guess what? There are no earmarks in the bill! How do we know? Because it says so. This is copied directly from the bill text:
“Pursuant to clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, this bill, as reported, contains no congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in clause 9(d), 9(e), or 9(f) of rule XXI.”
In other words, with or without “earmark reform,” Members of Congress are going to find ways to keep right on spending tax dollars on special interests and without even minimal accountability to insure that family members, political donors and present and former staff members aren’t on the receiving end.
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