Obama pledges to end earmarks http://jta.org/ENTRY_PERMALINK_HERE/obama-pledges-to-end-earmarks/ President-elect Barack Obama pledged to end earmarks, the pet projects lawmakers slip into spending bills. en-us rkampeas@jta.org Copyright 2009 2009-01-07T;21:37:00-05:00 Comment by William Daroff william.daroff@ujc.org The idea behind “earmarks” is that often times Members of Congress know the needs of their districts better than some nameless faceless bureaucrat here in Washington.  Our programs that have been funded through earmarks are innovative initiatives that push the envelope of what the establishment would like to fund—because we are ahead of our time.  Clearly there is a difference between an earmark for a $400 million weapons system that the Pentagon doesn’t want and a $400,000 earmark to bring innovative aging-in-place programs in Chicago that help to better the lives of real people. The key to making the earmark process “kosher” is to make them transparent—to shine bright lighst on them—so that they are not secretly & anonymously added into legislation in the dead of night.  Shine bright lights and magnafine glasses on the Jewish community’s earmarks, and you will be proud to find that we answer to a Higher Authority. The idea behind “earmarks” is that often times Members of Congress know the needs of their districts better than some nameless faceless bureaucrat here in Washington.  Our programs that have been funded through earmarks are innovative initiatives that push the envelope of what the establishment would like to fund—because we are ahead of our time. 

Clearly there is a difference between an earmark for a $400 million weapons system that the Pentagon doesn’t want and a $400,000 earmark to bring innovative aging-in-place programs in Chicago that help to better the lives of real people.

The key to making the earmark process “kosher” is to make them transparent—to shine bright lighst on them—so that they are not secretly & anonymously added into legislation in the dead of night.  Shine bright lights and magnafine glasses on the Jewish community’s earmarks, and you will be proud to find that we answer to a Higher Authority.

]]> 2009-11-08T;03:12:00-05:00 Comment by Joseph Loundy jloundy@rcn.com If ‘good earmarks” are so good – why can’t they be approved through the regular budgeting process?  Let’s be mature adults and not try to rationalize a hypocritical double standard where earmarks that we like are good and worthy and earmarks that we don’t personally like are “pork”.  We need to be better than that. If ‘good earmarks” are so good – why can’t they be approved through the regular budgeting process?  Let’s be mature adults and not try to rationalize a hypocritical double standard where earmarks that we like are good and worthy and earmarks that we don’t personally like are “pork”.  We need to be better than that.

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