Back in April, I commented about the Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 earmarks and the fact that after all the promises made in the 2006 elections by Democrats to “clean up the appropriations process” and tackle the abuse of earmarks, it had not happened.
It appears it won’t happen in FY 2009.
The Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) conducted an analysis of the FY 2009 version of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations in the House and found:
In total, there are 1,370 earmarks worth a staggering $618.8 million of taxpayer money. This represents a 5 percent increase in number of projects, but a whopping 122 percent increase in dollar amounts over the FY 2008 version, which had 1,305 earmarks costing $277.9 million.
An increase of 122%. Ouch! That’s even a little more than a gallon of gas has gone up since the Democrats took control of Congress.
CAGW also reported:
The top three porkers are as follows: Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii), $168.5 million; Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), $161.3 million; and Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-S.D.), $148.5.
Hmmm, the top three are Democrats. I guess tackling the abuse of earmarks is a good thing to run on to gain the majority in the Congress, but after having a few sips of that powerful kool-aid, it appears one’s view on the issue changes rather quickly. We saw this first-hand in Montana with Jon “I don’t support earmarks, period” Tester. It appears it’s an epidemic in the Democratic party.
The Western Word 
Hey Anon: You are correct. I saw where Montana missed out on about $40 million in defense dollars (Murtha took them) and most the water projects are not being properly funded, although the democrats are funding more earmarks with more money. Tester and Baucus have been jokes (Baucus is ranked somewhere in the 50s in the senate in securing earmarks and Tester is way further down the list) so Rehberg, in the House minority, has to battle with 434 other folks to bring anything home for Montana. He’s done well, but with very little help from the senators.
So earmark dollars have gone up under the D watch – no surprise there. The big question is, has Montana maintained parity, increased, or dropped in its share since booting out Burnsie? I mean, since Jon doesn’t believe in earmarks period, he’s obviously not involved. That leaves it up to the Powerful Max Baucus (TM) who doesn’t sit on an appropriations committee, at least on the Senate side.It appears Denny’s the only one who can do any heavy lifting, and he lost his partner in the other chamber. That is, until Jon gets his seat on Appropriations ‘as soon as possible’. Lying scumbags.