A Round-up of Op-Eds from the Heritage Foundation Tax Us, Exempt Matt Damon? – Brian Darling Congress decided to load up the bailout bill too, of course. Amid warnings of a massive economic slow-down being right around the corner, lawmakers couldn’t seem to refrain from freighting the potential deal with …
There are several issues in Washington this week following the passing of the Bailout legislation. Here are some key issues to be aware of this week: Congress passed a massive Continuing Resolution to fund the government for the next year and inserted some ridiculous earmarks and special interest projects. Some …
The Volokh Conspiracy‘s David Bernstein did not believe John McCain did an adequate job explaining his concern with earmarks during last Friday’s Presidential debate. Bernstein pick up the argument: Let’s say Congressman X is an idealistic young Congressman. Some constituents in his rural district ask him to get federal funding …
On Sept. 17, 1787, 39 of the original 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed the document that would eventually become our Constitution. In 2005, Congress passed a law designating today as Constitution Day and directed all educational institutions receiving federal funds to honor the day by holding “an educational …
Few members of Congress come to Washington to fight corrupting earmark spending. Usually new members come to Capitol Hill with the best intentions to help their constituents as best as they can … often including directing as much federal money as possible back to their district. Rep. John Kline (R-MN) …
According to the Department of Transportation, the number of Congressional earmarks increased by1150% between 1996 and 2005 and the monetary value of those earmarks increased 314%. While Republicans have a spotty record on the issue, conservatives have long fought their corrupting and inflationary influence. the practice declined some in 2007, …
In the clip below The American Prospect’s Mark Schmitt claims that “earmarks have nothing to do with anything” and “you could eliminate all the earmarks and not save a dollar because all they are are streams of existing funding.” If congressional earmarks occurred in a legislative vacuum, Schmitt would be …
In a process familiar to any troubled sub prime borrower, the current federal highway reauthorization bill spends more money than it takes in. Historically, any excess spending is paid through the Federal Highway Trust Fund and has always been exclusively funded through the gas tax. However, in an unprecedented action, …
Defenders of earmarks often insist that it is their “constitutional duty” to steer as many federal dollars to their districts as possible (never mind that Congress waited 200 years before earmarking at the extremely high levels it does today). As more and more congressmen are directing more and more money …
