Rep. Roy Blunt is not releasing his list of requested earmarks for the federal budget, according to a story by the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call.
Democrats are now crying fowl because Blunt just got done criticizing Democrats for failing to adopt an earmark process that's "open, honest and transparent."
The Roll Call piece lists Blunt as one of the lawmakers who would not release his list of earmarks to the group Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW).
From the piece:
Among the many lawmakers choosing to keep their lists secret are House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Reps. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Dan Burton (R-Ind.), Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) and Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), according to CAGW. All vociferously attacked the Democratic earmark plans, and Blackburn, McHenry and Foxx were specifically attacked in the Democratic memo for refusing to disclose earmarks to their local newspapers.
Burson Taylor Snyder, spokeswoman for Blunt, denied any hypocrisy.
"There is a huge difference between a chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee wanting to pass a bill with a slush fund of unmarked dollars in it" and refusing to release earmark requests, she said.
"If the bottom line is how your tax dollar is being spent, then the proper thing to do is make the list of earmarks that do get funding public in advance," she said.
But CAGW’s Paige didn’t buy that argument. Paige said taxpayers want to know what their Representatives are requesting, not just what gets funded, and they want to know it as early as possible, not just as bills are coming to the House floor, so they can impact the process.
Here's a list of the House members who have and have not released their earmark requests, according to CAGW. The Senate list is here.
Notably, Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner did not request any earmarks. Sen. Hillary Clinton refused to release her list.
Gannett News Service reports that Rep. Ike Skelton and Mo. Sen Kit Bond declined to release their requests as well. A spokeswoman for Sen. Claire McCaskill said the junior senator didn't request any.
"We don't want to participate in a broken system," McCaskill spokeswoman Adrianne Marsh said. "The senator wants a thoughtful earmark policy in place."
"It's not about Missouri losing out" with respect to funding of local projects, Marsh said. "It's about Missouri doing it the right way."
According to the CAGW list, Sen. Russ Feingold was the only other Democratic Senator to not request any earmarks.
1 comment:
Mr. Catanese,
Once again your post is highly misleading.
While it is true that Roy Blunt has not disclosed his request for earmarks - it is a completely different subject than what Democrats wanted to do. Democrats were seaking to create a slush fund by inserting earmarks behind closed doors in conference committee.
Had you researched the topic beyond the mailed out DCCC talking points you would understand that only thirty some odd Congressman would list their request.
If you were fair, you would explain the process to people and educate them about the government works.
You did neither. You took a cheap political shot at Roy Blunt instead.
The truth is that most Congressman do not reveal their request because it would cause internal conflict or political pressure within their district.
The Representative might have more than one request, but only one request may get inserted into the main bill. As a result, many like to keep their request under wraps until it reaches the floor of the House.
At that point it all becomes public under rules passed by Republicans (including Roy Blunt) last year.
You again, for what ever reason, fail to mention this in your story.
Rules, if memory serve me correctly, also state that the Representative's name must be attached to the earmark. I should note that the rules for the House and Senate are probably different.
In either case in my view you failed to report this story fairly or accurately.
I will leave the why for people to decide for themselves.
Paul Seale
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