Contradicting Obama's language on the trail and his press secretary's comments in the briefing room, there's a $7.7 million earmark in the $410 billion spending bill with Barry's name on it:
President Obama, who took a no-earmark pledge on the campaign trail, is listed as one of dozens of cosponsors of a $7.7 million set-aside in the fiscal 2009 omnibus spending bill (HR 1105) passed by the House on Wednesday.
The bill is an accumulation of leftovers from 2008 — spending measures that weren't enacted before the 110th Congress expired. Lawmakers who wanted money for local projects in those bills were required to submit their requests many months ago, while Obama was still a senator. It's moving through Congress now because a temporary extension of funds to run the government will run out after March 6.
Obama's name jumps out on a list of many earmark cosponsors because he and his staff have been so emphatic about his no-earmark stance.
"I think you can take one sign of the president's seriousness on this that there aren't any from him that I know of in that omnibus largely because there weren't any that were requested last year," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Wednesday.
He's not the only one:
Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. , who was a senator from Delaware when the window for making 2009 pet project requests was open, has his name is attached to $94.9 million in earmarks.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar , who was a senator at the time, sponsored or cosponsored even more in special line items for favored projects. His total, including earmarks he supported as a secondary sponsor, was $227.4 million. The overwhelming majority of those earmarks were cosponsored in conjunction with other lawmakers.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton , Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood , Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel also were members of the last Congress, and each of their names is associated with at least one earmark in this appropriation, which is ready for debate in the Senate.
That ethics bar keeps looking higher and higher every day.
There's my two cents.
No comments:
Post a Comment