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Lobbying News

Keep the Earmark Requests Coming, Say Some Lawmakers to Constituents
(Howard Marlowe quoted)

By Kevin Bogardus
The Hill
March 17, 2011

Some lawmakers are still seeking funding for their constituents, despite the voluntary earmark bans that have taken hold in both chambers of Congress.

In letters and e-mails obtained by The Hill, lawmakers asked constituents for their earmark requests this year and said they will seek alternative means of funding them due to the prohibition on pet projects.

Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), for example, wrote a Jan. 31 letter to constituents — beginning with “Dear Friends” — saying he disagreed with House Republican leaders and President Obama about banning earmarks. The lawmaker said he would pursue “alternative strategies” to find federal funds for projects in his district.

“I disagree with this decision because it prevents full and open congressional consideration of many worthwhile project proposals critical to the health, safety and economic well-being of the people of our district. As your representative in Congress, I am committed to working with you to pursue alternative strategies to support critical infrastructure improvements in our communities,” Thompson wrote in the letter.

Thompson asked constituents to send in letters by Feb. 25 describing what projects in their communities are in need of federal funds.

“I do not know if we will be successful, but I do know that we need to be ready,” Thompson wrote.

Valerie Brown, supervisor of Sonoma County, Calif.’s, 1st district, said she appreciated the congressman’s efforts, though it was unclear what success his constituents’ funding requests would have in Washington this year.

“Our Congress members are really interested in what our top priorities are for their districts,” Brown said. “It’s unclear how that list of priorities will be used in this Congress given the fact it has been made clear that there will be no earmarks.”

In written responses to The Hill’s questions, Thompson said that he “firmly believe[s] that local communities, not Washington bureaucrats, are in the best position to identify projects that will enhance safety, create jobs and improve our quality of life.”

Read the whole story here

House Appropriator: We Know How to Get Around Earmark Ban

By Daniel Strauss
The Hill
March 3, 2011

A House Democrat indicated Thursday that lawmakers are getting around the new ban on earmarks by convincing Obama administration officials to fund their pet projects.

Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), an appropriator, made the remarks during an appearance on C-SPAN's "Washington Journal" program.

In response to a question about whether earmark bans have "curtailed" the Appropriations Committee's power, Moran responded, "No, and I have to say — and I'm going to be as candid as possible — the appropriators are going to be okay because we know people in agencies and so on. We will continue to do the best job we can for the country and to some extent for our congressional districts because that's our job as well."

"But I feel quite strongly that the writers of the Constitution knew what they were doing when they gave the power of the purse to the Congress," Moran said.

The new House GOP majority has embraced a moratorium on earmarks, as has the Senate Appropriations Committee.

In his State of the Union address earlier this year, President Obama vowed to veto any bill that included earmarks.

Moran said that despite the moratoriums, earmarking has not vanished.

"I was a budget officer in the Nixon administration, back in the late 60s, early 70s. Every dollar was earmarked. It's just a question of who does the earmarking," Moran said. "It seems to me that everyone would be far better off if Congress took back its appropriate role and distributed funds... that is in the best interest of the country and then let the executive branch weigh in so you have some balance."

Read it online here

Without Saying 'Earmark,' Sens. Boxer, Inhofe Solicit Requests for Projects

By Alexander Bolton
The Hill
February 22, 2011

The debate over earmarks is far from finished in the Senate, Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and James Inhofe (R-Okla.) signaled in a recent letter to colleagues.

Boxer and Inhofe have asked senators to submit requests for specific projects in the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), a multiyear authorization bill, despite a pledge from President Obama to veto all legislation that includes earmarks.

The water resources authorization bill represents rare common ground for Boxer and Inhofe, who clashed during most of the 111th Congress over proposals to cap carbon emissions.

Boxer, the chairwoman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, and Inhofe, ranking Republican on the panel, were careful not to include the word “earmark” in their letter, sent Friday.

Instead, they ask colleagues to “provide the committee with specific project and programmatic requests you would like considered for inclusion in this bill,” according to a copy obtained by The Hill.

“We believe Congress has a constitutional role to play in determining spending priorities for the Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works program,” they wrote. “Without congressional input, the administration would be the sole voice in setting water resources priorities.”

The lawmakers, however, note the requests might have to be disclosed under the requirements of Senate Rule 44, which many senators believe defines earmarks.

Rule 44 requires disclosure of congressionally directed spending that recommends budget authority, credit authority or expenditure to an entity or specific state or locality.

But Inhofe argues that earmarks remain undefined.

Read more here

Lawmakers Talk Cuts but Defend Pork

By: Manu Raju
Politico
February 16, 2011

Furious at the rapid growth of the national debt, members of Congress insist that they’re ready to swing the budget ax anywhere and everywhere to get the country back on a sound fiscal track.

Everywhere, that is, except their backyards.

So as they bash President Barack Obama’s budget, Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) are upset about his proposed cuts to coal subsides. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) wants to protect his state’s agriculture interests, and his fellow Nebraskan, GOP Sen. Mike Johanns, is concerned about cuts to airport grants. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) says everyone will need to feel some budget pain — but he’s weighing how much pain NASA should feel.

And Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has all but declared Obama’s budget DOA in the House — but he’s not so sure about cuts to a second F-35 Joint Strike Fighter engine, which he says will save money. Those engines happen to be made in southwestern Ohio.

It’s the latest sign that much of the $1.1 trillion in spending cuts Obama proposed for the next decade may never be realized — even as budget cut talk dominates Washington. It also shows that lawmakers still can’t figure out how to embrace generic voter hatred of the $12.3 trillion national debt without harming the federal projects their local voters actually like.

“When you get into the details, it’s stickier — it’s harder because every program in the federal government has a group of folks that feel very strongly about it,” Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) said Tuesday in the Capitol.

For Republicans, the issue is particularly acute, given that they’ve spent the past two days lambasting Obama for putting forth an “unserious” budget that fails to overhaul Social Security and Medicare and wouldn’t shave enough off the deficit.

Read the rest of the story here

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