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Argument: Earmarks enable strong congressional check on executive spending

Issue Report: Earmarks

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John Feehery. “Reform, don’t ban, earmarks”. Politico. March 14, 2009 – Getting rid of earmarks is not only impractical; it gives way too much power to the executive branch.

Earmarks are a small, but essential, price to pay to protect democracy and our form of representative government.

Our nation’s founders bestowed upon Congress the power of the purse as a reaction to the absolute power of King George and his fellow monarchs. But what good is the power of the purse without the right to actually direct some of the spending of the president.

Undoubtedly, Congress has abused their power to spend the people’s money, and unfortunately, corruption has become all too commonplace.

But the reaction to this corruption should not be the wholesale abdication of power to an all-powerful executive.

Rather, Congress should reform its spending ways to rebuild the taxpayer’s trust in the process.