GOP already retreating on earmarks?

Ryan Streeter

Well, that didn’t last long. Republican appropriators are saying publicly that the earmark ban should be temporary.

Mike Simpson of Idaho defended earmarking funds to a community in his home state for something such as water systems thus:

I can make that determination because I know that district better than somebody from the EPA.

Well, I’m sure that’s true. But I'm pretty sure tea partiers weren't rallying to replace bureaucratic fiat with the fiats of individual appropriators.

Robert Aderholt of Alabama joined him in saying he has always been for earmarks. And then added:

I’m not opposed to us putting a moratorium on it until we can get a better handle on how to address it.

In other words a moratorium is fine until we lift the moratorium so we can get back to earmarking.

Anyone following this issue knows that earmarks, when totaled, don’t threaten the United States as wasteful discretionary and entitlement spending do. But that’s not the point.

The point is that Americans are sick of this. Trusting the discretion of members of Congress to target funds is another kind of discretionary spending that voters made very clear they don’t like.

Members should be spending their time showing how creative they can be in shrinking government by getting rid of waste. Kevin Brady of Texas offered a bill yesterday that proposes $153 billion in cuts over 5 years. While it’s drawn largely from the deficit commission’s recommendations, and it’s not nearly enough to make a significant dent in America’s larger deficit problems, it’s more in line with what Americans want right now – and what America needs.

That said, let’s hope that as they retreat in Baltimore to look out over the year, Republicans can successfully coordinate their approach to spending reduction. They are in a bit of a bind right now given the pre-Tucson flap over the $100 billion they promised to cut this year, and no amount of bill’s such as Brady’s will provide the fix. The "$100 billion problem" is sure to resurface soon, so let's hope they can get out ahead of it - and rein in those who go off the earmark reservation.