It’s the Earmarks, Stupid

The election is over and it's time for Congress to get serious about the budget. The first big test may tell us whether political self-interest trumps the public good. Now that a new Congress has been elected, the public is demanding that Washington deal with the economy, which means dealing with the federal government’s huge budget deficits—one trillion dollars this year alone. The Republicans campaigned vigorously for fiscal responsibility and budget integrity. Roll government back, they promised. But alas, strength of their resolve is already being tested only weeks after the election. Incredible as it may seem, Republican senators are meeting right now discussing whether or not they will ban earmarks, also better known as pork. These off-budget spending items that serve only local or special interests are written into a bill simply because the congressman has the power to do it.  It is done quietly with no oversight. Billions are siphoned off  this way every year. I have expressed my skepticism on BreakPoint before about whether politicians have the courage and the will to really restrain spending and I’m skeptical again. We’ll see tomorrow when the Republicans vote whether or not they intend to stand by their principles—or if they sell out to special interests. But this is more than an issue of fiscal responsibility.  It’s an issue of ethics and moral responsibility, both of which, sad to say, are in short supply in American life today. As BreakPoint listeners know, I have been working with Brit Hume and Princeton’s Robert George to produce a video series on ethics. I really believe this series can be a vital resource if we have any hope of restoring sound ethics to our society. Just look at the 2008 financial collapse—all due to ethical failures—and you will see how ethics are. Ironically, we are teaching in the ethics series questions that deal with exactly the same kind of issues raised by these earmarks. While earmarks may fund well-intended and necessary projects (though many do not), the principal goal is not the projects, but doing favors that will result in reelection. Earmarks are not illegal, but to use a political office to get tax dollars for your district in order to win political favor is clearly unethical. And getting them by circumventing the budget and appropriations process is grossly unethical. Yet it has been going on for years, and it is scandalous. Many of the ethical questions we raise in our new video series are hard to resolve. Moral decision making can be difficult work. But this one is a no-brainer. The American people have had enough of this stuff.  And they’re right. It’s time for the Republicans in the new Congress to ban earmarks. If avoiding this simple and obvious fiscal and moral decision is the way the Republican Party chooses to start its crusade to rein in government and government spending, then they will be thrown out just the way so many people were this last November, and though some of my friends are among them, I’ll lead the cheering section seeing them go home. You need to let your senator know immediately that while you may like a new highway in your district, you don’t want it if it’s brought about by unethical means.

Further Reading and Information

Earmark Debate Another Example of Republican Fiscal Fraudulence Adam Serwer | The Washington Post | November 10, 2010 Doing the Right Thing A Six Part Exploration of Ethics | The Colson Center

11/15/10