Congress, Bush Mum on Earmarks
Mark Tapscott reports that Congress refuses to identify by name the Members that put earmarks into the federal budget and that the Bush administration, through the institution of the Office of Management and Budget, has no plans to do anything about this.
No, I’m not surprised, either.
UPDATE: Bill Allison of the Sunlight Foundation notes that OMB is providing some data, but mostly aggregate figures.
Amanda Terkel of the liberal Center for American Progress blames Bush more than the Democratic Congress since Bush issued a platitude in the direction of sunshine during the State of the Union Address:
The time has come to end this practice [of congressional earmarking]. So let us work together to reform the budget process … expose every earmark to the light of day and to a vote in Congress.
Working together, pretty much by definition, requires that the other side play along. Still, it’s rather clear the president isn’t making this a priority. Then again, virtually nothing in the ridiculous wish lists that constitute modern SOTUs are priorities. Generally, that’s a good thing for fans of limited government. This, unfortunately, is a glaring exception.
This is all you really need to know about how our government works, when it come to BS issues like gay marriage and flag burning the partisanship is intense as the sun. When it come to things that really matter like covering each others backsides on spending issues they are not simply bi-partisan, they are no-partisan.