Blue Collar Muse

Given the furor over billions in earmarks loaded into the Omnibus bill passed by Congress, it’s nice to know not all federal legislators are unconcerned about the matter. Congressman Jack Kingston (GA-01) released a statement yesterday that highlighted legislation he crafted along with fellow members of the Republican Conference Frank Wolf (VA-10) and Tennessee’s own Zach Wamp (TN-03).

According to Kingston’s press release,

The Kingston/Wolf/Wamp legislation calls for a Joint Select Committee on Earmark Reform composed of 16 members equally appointed by the majority and minority parties of each house of Congress to study earmarks of all kinds. While the committee conducts its study, no earmarks, congressionally directed spending items, limited tax benefits or limited tariff benefits could be considered until the report is filed.

I’m particularly fond of the provision that calls for a moratorium on all earmarks until the report is filed. I wonder how long we could allow the report to languish in committee?

In addition to the provisions of the proposed legislation, known as H Con Res 263,

… the Republican Conference adopted the following standards for all earmarks:

*No more “monuments to me.” Lawmakers should not use taxpayer money to fund projects named after themselves.

*No more “airdrops.” The process by which Congress spends the American people’s money should be completely transparent. Members of Congress should not circumvent transparency by airdropping earmarks into bills in conference at the last minute.

*No more “fronts” or “pass-through” entities. Taxpayer funds should not be laundered through “front” operations that mask their true recipients.

*Members of Congress who request earmarks should put forth a plan detailing exactly how the money will be spent and why they believe the use of taxpayer funding is justified. Members of Congress who “secure” earmarks should place these plans in the Congressional Record well in advance of floor votes on those earmarks.

*To improve accountability, Members of Congress should require outside earmark recipients to put up “matching funds” where applicable so that American taxpayers do not bear all the risk for such expenditures.

*The Executive Branch should be held accountable for its own earmark practices. The Executive Branch asks for earmarks, too, and has done so under administrations Democratic and Republican alike. Members of Congress should hold present and future Administrations accountable for the way in which taxpayer-funded earmarks are used.

This is the sort of common sense proposal and legislation that we expect and need from our elected representatives. Please contact Congressmen Wamp, Wolf and Kingston and express your thanks for their work and call your Congressman and tell them you want them to support the measure. It’s just the first step in doing away with the waste and corruption that we call earmarks. But at least we’re moving in the right direction.

A special thanks to Zach Wamp from his fellow Tennesseans! Keep up the good work!

Blue

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This entry was posted on Saturday, January 26th, 2008 at 1:23 pm and is filed under Common Sense, Conservative, Politics, Pork, Tennesee Tips, The Economy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.