Amy Traub

Earmark This!

To hear Senator John McCain tell it, it is earmarks that caused the nation’s economic collapse and the loss of 2 million jobs in the last three months.

That’s right, the road to hell is paved with $250,000 grants to renovate a hospital and $100,000 for a community program to help at-risk youth (both, according to the Taxpayers for Common Sense database, earmarks in the recent appropriations bill McCain railed against). If only taxpayers realized that $95,000 of public money was headed straight to Sanilac County, Michigan to help replace their bus fleet, they’d certainly revolt.

Why all the fuss about projects that make up a maximum of 1.9% of the spending in the omnibus appropriations bill? In part, because stories about a few outlandish pork barrel projects make for great press. Who would miss an opportunity to rail against the next bridge to nowhere?

And in part, I believe, because it distracts from conservatives’ underlying point, that it’s not just earmarks but government spending as a whole that’s problematic. After all, as Senator Minority Leader Mitch McConnell argues, the appropriate thing to do during a recession, when there is no private sector demand to drive the economy, is to cut government spending and so make sure the government can’t boost the economy either. Most economists would disagree.

The most persuasive argument I’ve heard against earmarks is that they can become a conduit for political corruption. After all, felonious former Senator Ted Stevens used to lead the Senate in earmarks, some of which appear to be connected to a variety of special favors for the Senator. But I read that as a call for transparency, and for campaign finance reform that really gets big money out of elections, not a crusade against modernizing someone's local courthouse or upgrading a town septic system.

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Posted at 8:24 AM, Mar 12, 2009 in Fiscal Responsibility
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