Comment & Debate
“The Problem with Earmarks”. Charging RINO. July 19, 2006 – “Some stats: ‘The number of earmarks in the annual defense spending bill increased from 587 worth $4.2 billion in fiscal 1994 to 2,506 worth $9 billion in fiscal 2005, according to a recent Congressional Research Service study. There were 231 ‘plus-ups’ – the Navy’s term for the money Congress adds for its members’ pet projects – totaling nearly $600 million just in the Office of Naval Research budget in fiscal 2005, about a quarter of the total.’ […] This is a problem. And until members of Congress take serious steps to end their addiction to earmaking, it’s not a problem that’s going away.”