Comment & Debate
Zachary Coile. “Congress spending vote stirs earmarks debate”. San Francisco Chronicle. March 4, 2009 – To Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the $7.7 billion in earmarks tucked into a $410 billion spending bill are wasteful pork. But those are fighting words to Tony Pearsall, a former police captain and city councilman in Vallejo, whose nonprofit group would get one of those earmarks.
The group, Fighting Back Partnership, which runs programs for at-risk kids in the Vallejo public schools, would benefit from a $333,000 earmark requested by Martinez Democratic Rep. George Miller.
“When you are dealing with kids, who are our future, how can you consider it pork or unreasonable spending?” Pearsall asked. […]
Pearsall said his Vallejo nonprofit is run on a shoestring with small grants from the federal and state governments and private foundations. Without the federal help, youth programs would be cut back, he said.
“It would be devastating,” he said. “Right now Vallejo is bankrupt. There are not many programs in the schools because the school district is in dire straits financially. All the city departments are in dire straits financially.”
Rahm Emanuel. “Don’t Get Rid of Earmarks”. New York Times. August 24, 2007 – In my own district, I obtained an earmark to rebuild a bridge that not only was rated as deficient but also was identified by the Department of Homeland Security as a major evacuation route in case of a terrorist attack on Chicago. Does that make me an “earmark thug” or a congressman who took care of a critical need in his district?
Other earmarks I’ve championed include money for after-school programs, computers for police patrol cars, master teacher training programs and a children’s hospital research facility. I make no apologies for these earmarks, which serve important public purposes — and might even save a life. I’m happy to defend them in the well of the House or against attacks from campaign opponents.
Eugene Elander. “So, what’s wrong with earmarks?”. Op Ed News. March 10, 2009 – Each and every government program and project, at all levels, should be evaluated on its own merits in a thorough and objective manner. All of the earmarks in the present federal budget do not begin to compare to all of the billions which go into unneeded, and often non-functional, new weapons systems. During the Cold War, it was estimated that the United States and the Soviet Union had enough nuclear missiles on hand to kill the entire human population of the Earth ten times over, not to mention destroying the planet. Most of those missiles are still around, and many are not even secured. Compared to that doomsday situation, I’ll take earmarks and public works projects anytime.