The Politico reports today that fiscal conservatives face several hurdles in their quest to end earmarks, not the least of which is that “Democrats last year actually approved fewer earmarks than Republicans did when they ran Congress.” A closer look at the numbers reveals that isn’t exactly true. Liberals are comparing the fiscal 2008 total of 11,043 to the fiscal 2005 total of 13,997. What they don’t tell you is that this year’s number is the second highest on record and it’s a sharp increase from the past two years. …
According to The Hill, President Bush will face a key test on federal spending when he returns from his Middle East trip wrapping up in Egypt today. At issue is a movement by conservative budget watchdog groups supporting an Executive Order from the president directing federal agencies not to spend any money on many of the 9,000 earmarks included by members of Congress in the 2008 Omnibus spending bill. The Hill reports that supporters of the measure say the move would “send a sharp warning to Congress to clamp down …
Just days after releasing a plan to reduce government spending, Fred Thompson continued his assault on earmarks, promising today that if elected president he would sign an executive order canceling lawmakers’ pork-barrel projects. President Bush is considering the idea, which is strongly opposed by congressional appropriators but supported by fiscal conservatives. Thompson fielded questions from bloggers during a conference call this afternoon. He was asked if he would issue an executive order instructing federal agencies to ignore the nearly 10,000 earmarks in the omnibus spending bill that was enacted in …
A day after his victory in the New Hampshire primary, Sen. John McCain spoke with bloggers about a variety of issues, including the option of a presidential executive order canceling earmarks in the omnibus spending bill. Erick Erickson of RedState posed the question to the Arizona senator, who has long been a critic of pork-barrel spending. Here is the exchange, courtesy of Jim Geraghty of National Review: Erick Erickson: Senator Coburn wants investigation into Don Young’s appropriation got back into bill after it had been stripped out. Would you support …
Heritage’s Mike Franc breaks down the debate over pork-barrel spending and makes the case for President Bush to end earmarks in our latest Heritage in Focus video. Franc highlights one of the nearly 10,000 earmarks in the omnibus bill: a gas station in the Ohio district of Rep. Dave Hobson.
Picking up on the theme laid out by Heritage’s Mike Franc last week in Human Events, today John Fund writes in the Wall Street Journal about President Bush’s legacy on fiscal responsibility: This week President Bush will make one of the most important decisions of his remaining time in office. It won’t get headlines or lead the news, but it could play a major role in deciding whether this country ever gets any kind of grip on the constantly growing federal budget. Fund’s column comes at a critical moment. The …
