Beltway Confidential

Earmarks are a way of avoiding policy debates

By Timothy P. Carney
Published June 4, 2014 5:01pm ET
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Earmarks are a way of avoiding policy debates
Democrats and Republicans are fighting over how to fund highway repair projects this summer. (Thinkstock) | PHIDUONG

With legendary earmarker Thad Cochran facing early retirement at the hands of the Tea Party, it’s worth recalling what earmarks were for before Republicans banned them in 2010:

The point of earmarks was to bribe lawmakers into ignoring the substantive policies in the bill they were debating.

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Tag:

Earmarks John Boehner Thad Cochran Timothy P. Carney