American Civilization

One focus of the new Congress has been on “earmarking.”  That’s a term to describe the process used by representatives of both parties to slip specific provisions into legislation.  The term comes from the branding of animals on their ears in order to identify ownership.

• Pretend you’re a representative in Congress.
• Pretend there’s a piece of proposed legislation which covers pages and pages of text.
  
• Now imagine that your constituents would be really happy to have the federal government pay for a local project.  

In the past representatives could “slip” the funding into that proposed legislation without anyone noticing it. 

The practice is controversial because it has provided secret funding for very specific projects without any public scrutiny.   An example of such a project would be something like the $223 million “bridge to nowhere” in Alaska, a bridge to an island with an airport and about 50 inhabitants which was put in the 2005 highway bill.  (cited in the Los Angeles Times)

And, also, according to the Los Angeles Times, this practice has exploded in recent years.  One result has been a dramatic increase in both lobbyists and corruption scandals. 

Bush referred to this practice in his recent State of the Union Address.  He even made a bit of a joke when he said, “These special interest items are often slipped into bills at the last hour, when not even C-SPAN is watching.”

Bush continued, “In 2005 alone, the number of earmarks grew to over 13,000 and totaled nearly $18 billion. Even worse, over 90 percent of the earmarks never make it to the floor of the House and the Senate; they’re dropped into committee reports that are not even part of the bill that arrives on my desk.”

What a waste of time and paper! 

Part of the “ethics” reform measures in the new Congress requires that representatives include their names on any provisions which they add to bills.  That provision would provide more transparency in the funding of local projects. 

So, will representatives continue this practice if they have to acknowledge what they’re doing?  That’s the question.