In this time of financial instability, people across America are being forced to control their spending. If families around America can cut back on their expenses to make ends meet, why can’t the government? Congressman Mike Pence (R-ID), at a recent Conservative Bloggers’ Briefing, tells stories of families he met in Indiana at town hall meetings. He says, “I didn’t meet a family that wasn’t facing these economic times with courage and sacrifice.” He argues that “they get it; they understand what to do when times get tough. They make hard choices. And today, House Republicans are urging Democrats in Congress to do the same. With all the talk of fiscal responsibility in Washington in the last 24 hours, we think it’s time that Democrats put our money where their mouth is…. we’re advocating that Congress freeze all federal spending immediately.”
However, Congress has done the opposite. On February 25th, the House passed what was titled the “Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009.” According to the GOP website, this act will increase spending by $32 billion or 8.3%–not including the money provided to the recently-passed stimulus. Including the stimulus, the increase in spending grows to $300 billion, or 80%. This bill includes over 9000 earmarks. The earmarks range from oh-so-necessary projects like “$143,000 for Nevada Humanities ‘to develop and expand a comprehensive online encyclopedia’” to “$5.8 million for a Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the Senate at the University of Massachusetts.” Other spending projects include “$54 million for polar icebreaking services” and “$1.45 billion for Amtrak, a program that fails to be competitive and continues to need federal subsidies to cover operating losses and capital costs.”
And the final cost of this bill? “A [Congressional Budget Office] CBO cost estimate is not yet available, however, the legislation would appropriate $410 billion to fund nine appropriations bills from March 6, 2009, through September 30, 2009.”
In the face of this massive pork-barrel spending, where is the President, who on February 24th said, “I’m proud that we passed the recovery plan free of earmarks, and I want to pass a budget next year that ensures that each dollar we spend reflects only our most important national priorities”? At a press briefing on March 2nd, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs gave no hope of salvation from the President; his weak message spoke only of transparency and lower spending—neither of which have been shown this far from the Obama Administration, and neither of which solves the problem of wasteful, needless spending in Congress.
Heather Latham is an intern at the American Journalism Center, a training program run by Accuracy in Media and Accuracy in Academia.
