Congress May Seek Criminal Probe of Altered Earmark - washingtonpost.com

Too bad we can't have an criminal investigation into all earmarks.

Pigs to Remain At Trough

Earmark moratorium fails big in the Senate.

If Only More Governors Were Like Alaska's Sarah Palin

Don Surber has the reason why--she has told her pork happy congressional delegation to stop sending the pork.

I think I have a new hero--Sarah Palin.

I Know Nothing

Bryan Preston at Hot Air points to a story with some unbelievable aspects. Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-PA) has family members who run a business called Cornerstone, which happens to be a contractor of the U.S. Navy (wow that doesn't happen too often!). The Navy wants a high pressure pump the company built with $9.2 million in taxpayer money--but the company doesn't know where the pump is. That must be a pretty damn small, high pressure pump.

An admitted science geek who became enchanted by the idea of using high-powered water jets to break down materials for use in composites, Kanjorski encouraged the creation of Cornerstone in the late 1990s to develop — and one day commercialize — the technology. It was formed by his nephew, Peter Kanjorski, and a scientist, Bruce Conrad, who were joined in the company by four of the congressman’s other nephews and his daughter.

In 1998, with the help of Rep. John P. Murtha, a fellow Pennsylvanian and the top Democrat on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Rep. Kanjorski earmarked $3.5 million for the research through the Navy.

While I don't know what my cousins, neices or nephews do for a living, I am pretty sure what my brother and sister do.

I find it ludicrous to believe that Kanjorski, who not only secured money for the company, encouraged its creation and is brothers with one of the company's founders--knows nothing about the company or its contracts with the Navy.

Wouldn't it be refreshing for a Congressman to actually own up to something. My healthy self might actually have a heart attack.

Florida's Meek Earmarks

Um, yeah right:

[Rep.] Kendrick Meek [D, Fla.] says his enthusiasm for the biotech project had nothing do with the fact that his mother [former Rep. Carrie Meek] was a paid consultant for the developer, or that she was was receiving free rent and the use of a luxury SUV.

He says his mom never asked him to propose the $4 million appropriation.

So it's just another weird Miami coincidence — mother and son independently embracing a fast-talking Boston developer with ambitious plans and a thirst for public financing.

Draw your own conclusions.

A Porkbuster's Profile

Quite a bit of buzz in the conservative blogosphere about the Los Angeles Times profile of Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ).Flake has long be a opponent of the vile earmarking process and he is getting some traction--thanks in part to the exposure of the near graft invovled in the earmarking process:

Flake's persistence may be starting to pay off.

Last year, his amendments to strike earmarks drew an average of 68 votes. This year, the average rose to 85 votes.

"A lot of people are really sick of this game," Flake said. "They had higher aspirations than to beg for crumbs that fall from appropriators' tables."

Now if we can get to 218 on an earmark stripping amendment on a regular basis, then that will be progress. Still more:

Flake's campaign appears to be increasingly irritating both parties' senior members of the House Appropriations Committee.

Committee Chairman David R. Obey (D-Wis.) recently reached his boiling point when Flake dared to challenge a $400,000 earmark in the chairman's home state. "I think it comes with considerable ill grace," Obey fumed.

Rep. Jerry Lewis of Redlands, the committee's top Republican, recently told Flake that he was doing a disservice in attempting to portray Republicans as fiscally undisciplined.

"The gentleman is wrong," he said.

Flake's critics say that he is wasting time focusing on tiny appropriations rather than taking aim at serious spending issues, such as controlling Medicare costs.

When you are irritating both sides of the aisle evenly, you are doing a fair job. The comment about Medicare is pointed though and legitimate. But the counter would be that if Congress weren't so interested in getting pork for their district, they might have more time to focus on Medicare and other entitlement reforms.

Flake may be focusing on teh nickle and dime projects, but these projects add up over time. Ask anyone who has looked at their personal spending (as my wife and I have recently), it is not just the big ticket items that drive budget busting, it is the little things. Flake's earmark targets are like those $6 trips for fast food every couple of days. Individually they aren't that much, but over the course of a month or a year, you can pay a lot of bills with that money.

Well done Congressman Flake.

Earmark in Defense Appropriations

Robert Novak's column today describes the mostly lonely quest of Representative Jeff Flake (R-AZ):

With the midnight hour approaching on Saturday, Aug. 4, near the end of a marathon session, Democratic and Republican leaders alike wanted to pass the defense appropriations bill quickly and start their summer recess. But Republican Rep. Jeff Flake's stubborn adherence to principle forced an hour-long delay that revealed unpleasant realities about Congress.

Flake insisted on debating the most egregious of the 1,300 earmarks placed in the defense money bill by individual House members that authorize spending in their districts. Defending every such earmark was the chairman of the Appropriations defense subcommittee: Democratic Rep. John Murtha, unsmiling and unresponsive to questions posed on the House floor by Flake. Murtha is called "King Corruption" by Republican reformers, but what happened after midnight on Aug. 5 is not a party matter. Democrats and Republicans, as always, locked arms to support every earmark. It makes no difference that at least seven House members are under investigation by the Justice Department. A bipartisan majority insists on sending taxpayers' money to companies in their districts without competitive bidding or public review.

Despite the protestations of the Democratic leadership, very little has changed when it comes to earmarks.

Bringing home the bacon is a part of every Congressman's job and most of the time, many of the earmarks may actually be a wise investment of the taxpayer dollars, but as Flake pointed out in debate, some of the earmarks for Defense Appropriations Committee Chairman John Murtha (D-PA) are not only excessive but unwanted by the Pentagon.

The Pentagon is a bureaucracy quite capable of getting what it needs, if they determine that they don't need it, why are we still funding it?

The Club For Growth's RePORK Card

Admitting to the fact that Club for Growth has a political agenda, the RePORK card doesn't hold very good news for most Congressmen or the American taxpayer:

The Club for Growth has compiled a RePORK Card of all members' votes on all 50 anti-pork amendments (see below). 'Taxpayers have a right to know which congressmen stand up for them and which stand up for the special interests,' said Club for Growth President Pat Toomey. 'Unfortunately, the Club for Growth RePORK Card shows that most congressmen care more about lining their buddies' pockets than they care about protecting American taxpayers.' Some interesting numbers to consider:

• Sixteen congressmen scored a perfect 100%, voting for all 50 anti-pork amendments. They are all Republicans.
• The average Republican score was 43%. The average Democratic score was 2%.
• The average score for appropriators was 4%. The average score for non-appropriators was 25%.
• Kudos to Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN) who scored an admirable 98%-the only Democrat to score above 20%.
• Rep. David Obey (D-WI) did not vote for his own amendment to strike all earmarks in the Labor-HHS appropriations bill. Rep. Obey scored an embarrassing 0% overall.
• 105 congressmen scored an embarrassing 0%, voting against every single amendment. The Pork Hall of Shame includes 81 Democrats and 24 Republicans.
• The Democratic Freshmen scored an abysmal average score of 2%. Their Republican counterparts scored an average score of 78%.

Here is the list of zero percenters (Appropriations Committee members in Bold):
Abercrombie (D-HI-1)
Aderholt (R-AL-4)
Alexander, R. (R-LA-5)
Altmire (D-PA-4)
Andrews (D-NJ-1)
Arcuri (D-NY-24)
Baca (D-CA-43)
Baker (R-LA-6)
Baldwin (D-WI-2)
Becerra (D-CA-31)
Bishop, T. (D-NY-1)
Boucher (D-VA-9)
Boustany (R-LA-7)
Boyda, N. (D-KS-2)
Butterfield (D-NC-1)
Calvert (R-CA-44)
Capito (R-WV-2)
Capuano (D-MA-8)
Carson (D-IN-7)
Conyers (D-MI-14)
Costello (D-IL-12)
Cramer (D-AL-5)
DeLauro (D-CT-3)
Diaz-Balart, L. (R-FL-21)
Donnelly (D-IN-2)
Edwards (D-TX-17)
Ellsworth (D-IN-8)
Emerson (R-MO-8)
Etheridge (D-NC-2)
Frelinghuysen (R-NJ-11)
Gilchrest (R-MD-1)
Gonzalez (D-TX-20)
Green, G. (D-TX-29)
Grijalva (D-AZ-7)
Hall, J. (D-NY-19)
Hastings, A. (D-FL-23)
Hinchey (D-NY-22)
Hinojosa (D-TX-15)
Hirono (D-HI-2)
Hodes (D-NH-2)
Holt (D-NJ-12)
Inslee (D-WA-1)
Israel (D-NY-2)
Jackson, J. (D-IL-2)
Kagen (D-WI-8)
Kaptur (D-OH-9)
Kennedy, P. (D-RI-1)
Kildee (D-MI-5)
Knollenberg (R-MI-9)
Kucinich (D-OH-10)
Kuhl (R-NY-29)
LaHood (R-IL-18)
Lampson (D-TX-22)
Levin, S. (D-MI-12)
Lewis, Jerry (R-CA-41)
Lipinski (D-IL-3)
McCollum (D-MN-4)
McIntyre (D-NC-7)
McNulty (D-NY-21)
Michaud (D-ME-2)
Mollohan (D-WV-1)
Murphy, C. (D-CT-5)
Murphy, T. (R-PA-18)
Murtha (D-PA-12)
Napolitano (D-CA-38)
Obey (D-WI-7)
Olver (D-MA-1)
Ortiz (D-TX-27)
Pallone (D-NJ-6)
Pascrell (D-NJ-8)
Pastor (D-AZ-4)
Payne (D-NJ-10)
Peterson, C. (D-MN-7)
Peterson, J. (R-PA-5)
Price, D. (D-NC-4)
Rangel (D-NY-15)
Regula (R-OH-16)
Rehberg (R-MT-AL )
Renzi (R-AZ-1)
Reyes (D-TX-16)
Rogers, H. (R-KY-5)
Rogers, Mike D. (R-AL-3)
Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL-18)
Roybal-Allard (D-CA-34)
Ruppersberger (D-MD-2)
Ryan, T. (D-OH-17)
Sarbanes (D-MD-3)
Serrano (D-NY-16)
Sherman (D-CA-27)
Shuler (D-NC-11)
Snyder (D-AR-2)
Thompson, B. (D-MS-2)
Tiahrt (R-KS-4)
Towns (D-NY-10)
Udall, T. (D-NM-3)
Van Hollen (D-MD-8)
Velazquez (D-NY-12)
Visclosky (D-IN-1)
Walsh (R-NY-25)
Walz (D-MN-1)
Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL-20)
Watson (D-CA-33)
Watt (D-NC-12)
Welch (D-VT-AL )
Wilson, C. (D-OH-6)

It is the Appropriators that set the standard and when both the Chairman and the Ranking Members don't take to heart the need for fiscal restraint and reducing pork, do we really expect everyone else in Congress to do so?