Yes, Virginia, you too may have a Santa Claus. South Carolina does. New Jersey’s “tea party” representative has been “replenishing” the beaches of Jersey’s coastline with sand that you and I paid for. Even Michele Bachmann has been working on a bridge to — well, not nowhere, just Wisconsin, with the cooperation of tea party Wisconsin rep, Sean Duffy, and in spite of environmental concerns on the part of the National Park Service.
Freshman House Republicans who rode a wave of voter discontent into office last year vowed to stop out-of-control spending, but that has not stopped several of them from quietly trying to funnel millions of federal dollars into projects back home.
Representative Sean Duffy says his bridge measure is not an earmark because there were no specific costs listed in the bill.
They have pushed for dozens of projects in their districts, including military programs opposed by the president, replenishing beach sand lost to erosion, a $700 million bridge in Minnesota and a harbor dredging project in Charleston, S.C. Some of their projects were once earmarks, political shorthand for pet projects penciled into spending bills, which Republicans banned when they took over the House.
An examination of spending bills, news releases and communications with federal agencies obtained under the Freedom of Information Act shows that nearly two dozen freshmen have sought money for projects that could ultimately cost billions of dollars, while calling for less spending and banning pork projects.
And a bunch of ’em have been pushing for more military spending in their states.
Last March, while the House was drafting the military authorization bill, 22 freshman Republicans wrote a letter to the House leadership requesting more military spending than President Obama had requested.
Many of the signees included members whose districts have a large military presence or big defense contractors like Representative Steven M. Palazzo, a Mississippi freshman. During his campaign, Mr. Palazzo told voters that he favored banning earmarks, saying it would “help restore the people’s faith in their government.” …NYT
Cross posted from the blog Prairie Weather.