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Harry Reid says bring back the pork-barrel spending
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday that earmarks should be put back on the table as a tool for Congress, becoming the latest voice in a growing chorus to return to the days when pork-barrel spending dominated the annual appropriations process.
“I have been a fan of earmarks since I got here the first day,” Mr. Reid, Nevada Democrat, told reporters. “Keep in mind, that’s what the country has done for more than 200 years, except for the brief period of time in recent years that we haven’t done these.”
He and other supporters said earmarks were part of the founders’ vision of government and that they served to help get bills passed, making them an attractive antidote to the gridlock in Congress over the past four years.
The public began to sour on earmarks after mammoth boondoggles such as the “bridge to nowhere,” which would have sent more than $300 million in taxpayers’ money to build a bridge to an Alaska island so residents could get to an airport without having to use a ferry service. The project ultimately was canceled, but it became a symbol of runaway pork-barrel spending.
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who would be in line to lead the Senate if Republicans win control of the chamber in November, is opposed to restoring earmarks, a spokesman said. Asked whether Mr. McConnell agreed with Mr. Reid that it was time to rethink the ban, his spokesman flatly said, “No.”
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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday that earmarks should be put back on the table as a tool for Congress, becoming the latest voice in a growing chorus to return to the days when pork-barrel spending dominated the annual appropriations process.
“I have been a fan of earmarks since I got here the first day,” Mr. Reid, Nevada Democrat, told reporters. “Keep in mind, that’s what the country has done for more than 200 years, except for the brief period of time in recent years that we haven’t done these.”
He and other supporters said earmarks were part of the founders’ vision of government and that they served to help get bills passed, making them an attractive antidote to the gridlock in Congress over the past four years.
The public began to sour on earmarks after mammoth boondoggles such as the “bridge to nowhere,” which would have sent more than $300 million in taxpayers’ money to build a bridge to an Alaska island so residents could get to an airport without having to use a ferry service. The project ultimately was canceled, but it became a symbol of runaway pork-barrel spending.
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who would be in line to lead the Senate if Republicans win control of the chamber in November, is opposed to restoring earmarks, a spokesman said. Asked whether Mr. McConnell agreed with Mr. Reid that it was time to rethink the ban, his spokesman flatly said, “No.”
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...utm_medium=RSS
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