There’s been much ado about the new Republican Congress’ quest to ban earmarks. They talk about how it will cut spending, no earmarks will mean no more money spent on researching the sexual habits of snails and it will be a sign showing they meant it when their campaign literature said they wanted to cut wasteful spending. Being the bearer of bad news that I am, it doesn’t cut Federal spending by a single penny while giving the President full power over the purse strings.
There has been much talk about what an earmark is, without any word of its true definition. An earmark is a provision that directs funds to go to a specific project or directs a hyper-specific tax or fee exemption. Since Congress is Constitutionally obligated to direct Federal funds, the power to grant earmarks lands directly on Congress, being on of its’ core functions; one of the few they haven’t let slip away to the executive branch.
The argument for banning earmarks falls apart on several points. As mentioned above, the power to direct Federal funds resides within the legislative branch. In the event Congress does not fulfill this duty, the obligation goes to the Executive Branch. The reasons against granting this power to the President are voluminous. The President will not make the process any better than it is now, the President will politicize the process by failing to give allotted money to districts with representatives that do not fall in lock step with the President and any more power granted to the executive is not needed now or ever.(Isn’t it funny that the Tea Party Movement, that supports smaller government, would want to give even more power to the President?) Banning earmarks seems futile when you know they do not cost a dime to be implemented. All they are, as mentioned previously, are provisions that direct funds to a certain project with money that is already there. You cannot cut the spending if all you are doing is banning where it is being spent instead of it being spent at all. It would be like shutting off a lighthouse in a port where the docks are full, but still letting ships in, while not asking the question, why do we need any more ships docked in the port? Lets imagine that banning earmarks would cut spending. If it did, it would only consist of 2 percent of the overall Federal budget and you would be wasting your time on such a small number where there are trillions to be cut on the elimination of entire departments. Earmarks are also a way for taxpayers to go to their Congressman and say they want some of that money back. Would you want to take away money from people who actually earned the money they would be getting back in favor of a bureaucrat directing funds to causes and people he deems worthy? What’s to keep him from not finding you worthy of keeping your money, that you paid anyway, and giving it to someone who didn’t? Looking at the track record of the Federal bureaucrats and their fondness for redistribution of wealth that scenario seems highly likely.
Of course, people like John McCain and other fake conservatives will inevitably call you a big spending liberal if you dare question their anti-earmark dogma. You want a bridge to nowhere? You want a potato museum? Of course I don’t! There is a simple solution to nix unconstitutional spending in the butt that doesn’t involve any strenuous effort for your average Congress critter: vote no. It doesn’t involve any lobbing, any vote jockeying or even breaking a sweat. Just press that other button that you rarely press ever.
I am not a big spender, as mainline conservatives reading this will believe. You lock me in a room, give me a copy of the budget, calculator, pizza, a copy of The Queen is Dead by The Smiths and a 12 pack of beer there will be trillions of dollars eliminated within two hours; entire departments will be gone.
Where in the Constitution does it say the Federal Government should be involved in funding education, the Department of Energy and the EPA? No where! So called conservatives like John McCain and Mitch McConnell will go on TV and cite a few crazy things that were earmarked money. The whole idea is to cite the silly stuff to make earmarks sound like they are funding crazy studies, get you to focus all of your attention on passing a ban on earmarks while they vote for big spending bills right under your eyes. These professional politicians and creeps are pulling the wool over the eyes of the Tea Party members and they don’t even know it.
The solution to fixing the problem is easy. Ignore the pabulum coming from politicians and focus on their legislative action. If you ignore them, they will get the message. Sometimes silence is the best solution to getting politicians to listen to you. Imagine if they held an election and no one showed up. That would get their attention real quick!
Tea Party members, you’re being taken for a ride and you don’t even know it. These cretins are blatantly lying to you, taking your eye off the ball and spending this country even further down the drain. Push for the elimination of the Department of Education, the Department of Energy, the Department of Homeland Security, the TSA and every other unconstitutional department. Don’t get distracted and do what they tell you, do what is right and constitutional. You say you love the Constitution and want the government to follow it more. I’ll take you at your word that you do. Karl Rove is not there for you, Michelle Bachman is not there for you, Dick Armey is not there for you and neither is the national Republican establishment. Shake off the establishment elements co-opting you and do what’s right for the country: make the Congress critters follow the Constitution and stop trying to make it irrelevant or you will make them irrelevant!
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