The New York Times 02/06/12
“Special Fund sin Budget called New Earmarks”
Members of Congress may no longer be able to direct federal money to projects back home because of a moratorium on legislative earmarks, but that has not stopped them from trying.
A coalition of budget watchdog groups says that in the absence of the age-old practice of Congressional earmarks, the legislative tools that let members attached pet projects to bills, lawmakers appear to have found a backdoor method: special funds in spending and authorization bills that allow them to direct money to projects in their states.
The latest example of these special funds is in the Army Corps of Engineers budget. Documents show that Congress included 26 different funds – totaling $507 million – for the corps to spend on various constructions, maintenance and other projects that were not included in President Obama’s budget or the final spending bill.
The funds were financed by reducing money for projects included in the president’s budget request and adding $375 million to the corps budget, documents show.
Congress also gave the corps criteria to use in selecting projects and instructed it to report within 456 days about how it intend to spend the money from the fund.
Critics say the special budgets are the latest example of members of Congress trying to circumvent the earmark ban to funnel money to their districts, in the form of corps engineering projects.
Common Sense Review
All those who thought representatives would stop funding pet projects… Raise your hand!
Even though this is not a surprise, this is a problem. Those who represent us are lying to us in an act of omission…
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