In 2006, the Democrats promised many things to win elections. They were going to change the way the work was done in Washington. One of the major things the democrats promised was to “clean up the appropriations process” and tackle the abuse of earmarks.

They called it “Earmark Reform.” It did not happen.

The Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), which is a private, non-partisan, non-profit organization, recently released their report on fiscal year 2008 appropriations. In their 2008 Congressional Pig Book Summary, CAGW reports:

In fiscal year 2008, Congress stuffed 11,610 projects (the second highest total ever) into the 12 appropriations bills worth $17.2 billion. The 11,610 projects represent a 337 percent increase over the 2,658 projects in fiscal year 2007. The $17.2 billion is a 30 percent increase over the fiscal year 2007 total of $13.2 billion. Only the Defense and Homeland Security bills included earmarks in fiscal year 2007, so comparisons of other bills are made between fiscal years 2008 and 2006.

Additionally, Montana has lost clout in securing appropriations. According to CAGW, Montana has fallen two spots from seventh to ninth. As you can see when you read CAGW’s report, those dollars went to other states.