Control Of Washington Earmarks Proposed
Published: Monday, December 18, 2006 Online-Casinos.com
CONTROL OF WASHINGTON EARMARKS PROPOSED
A political move that evokes unpleasant memories of Senator Frist and the UIGEA
Associated Press reported this week on new political initiatives from President Bush aimed at clamping down on the common Capitol Hill manouevre of attaching pet projects to unrelated but "must-pass" spending bills, ensuring that the late addendums are not properly debated or controlled.
The Republican move evoked in many industry observers bitter memories of Senator Bill Frist's political moves in October which culminated in the passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, causing ructions within the international online gambling industry and interfering with the rights of American players to spend their after tax disposable income on pastimes of choice.
Such attachments, apparently called 'earmarks', are spending provisions that often are put into bills at the last minute, so they never get debated or discussed, the U.S. President said in his weekly radio address.
"It is not surprising that this often leads to unnecessary federal spending, such as a swimming pool or a teapot museum tucked into a big spending bill," he said. To which online gamblers might add hypocritical and expensive to enforce prohibitionist bills!
The president said his administration's proposal would make earmarks more transparent, make lawmakers more accountable for the earmarks they propose, and help reduce the overall number of earmarks.
Bush said the use of earmarks has exploded, and pointed to a Congressional Research Service report that the number of earmarks has increased from about 3 000 in 1996 to 13 000 this year.
"I respect Congress' authority over the public purse, but the time has come to reform the earmark process and dramatically reduce the number of earmarks," Bush said.
Democrats, who will take control of Congress on January 4 next year, have already announced their plan to wipe out billions of dollars in lawmakers' home-state projects in unfinished spending bills. On Monday, the incoming Democratic chairmen of the House and Senate Appropriations committees announced that they would eliminate earmarks from the nine unfinished spending bills for the budget year that began Oct. 1.
Rep. David Obey D-Wis., and Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., said they would restore earmarking in the upcoming 2008 budget cycle, but only after implementing changes. Obey said he was pleased that the president supports their plan.
This summer, Republicans announced changes to require spending bills to carry lists of earmarks and their sponsors. That's a good start, Bush said, but more needs to be done by both parties.
"Republicans and Democrats alike have an opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to spending restraint and good government by making earmark reform a top priority for the next Congress," Bush said. "When it comes to spending your money, you expect us to rise above party labels."
