The Year in Earmarks12,881 earmarks. $18.3 billion. Taxpayers for Common Sense has cataloged them all, and you can see them right here in their awe-inspiring earmark database of this year’s spending bills. Jump in and tell us what you find.
A number of journalists dove in to the database and here’s what they came up with (TPMm research hounds Andrew Berger, Peter Sheehy, and Diane Vacca compiled this round-up):
Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) has received campaign contributions from each (sub. req.) of the 26 groups for whom he requested earmarks in the recent defense spending bill. An analysis by Roll Call shows that since the beginning of 2005, PACs and employees of those groups have given Murtha $413,250, of which $100,750 came “in the two weeks leading up to March 16, the original deadline for lawmakers to file their earmark requests.” (Roll Call)
In terms of securing earmarks, Hillary Clinton (D-NY) ranks among the top ten in the Senate ($340 million) while Barack Obama (D-IL) ranks in the bottom 25% of the Senate ($91 million). John McCain (R-AZ) has rejected earmarks entirely. Since becoming the majority party, Democrats are responsible for 57% of the $18.3 billion spent on earmarks. (Washington Post)
Freshmen Democrats in the House are “among the biggest recipients of earmarked funds.” Democratic leaders have distributed the funds with an eye towards aiding representatives in contested districts in the upcoming election. Further analysis of the study by Congressional Quarterly shows that Democratic minority lawmakers trailed white Democratic lawmakers’ earmarks by a two to one ratio in the House. (The Hill, CQ Politics)
Despite being under investigation for his ties to lobbyist and former congressional representative Bill Lowery, Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) still requested, either alone or in conjunction with others, a total of $137 million in earmarks last year. Among the recipients was Trident Systems Incorporated, a company whose ties to Lewis have been previously reported. (Los Angeles Times, Harper’s)
Last year only eighteen members of Congress – twelve in the House and six in the Senate – did not request any earmarks. Among the Republicans abstaining from the practice were House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) while only three Democrats – Sens. Russ Feingold (D-WI), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), and Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) – did not make a request. (AP)
Rank-and-file Representatives in Congress secured (sub. req.) an average of $4 million in earmarks for their districts in 2007, but members of the Appropriations Committees of both houses got many times more. Members of the House committee obtained an average of $22 million. Senators procured an average of $10.4 million, but members of the Senate Appropriations Committee earned an average of $88.7 million for their constituents. (Roll Call)
