Biden Keeps Requesting More Earmarks
Apparently the presidential candidates’ agreement to swear off earmarks does not apply to the Democratic  vice presidential nominee. Â
Delaware Senator Joe Biden still has not released the complete list of his earmarks from all thirty-six of his years in the U.S. Senate. Â While we may not be able to track down every ounce of pork he pulled from the federal Treasury in past years, we do know how much he is requesting for the upcoming fiscal year.
According to USA Today:
A $630 billion spending bill nearing final approval in Congress includes $6.6 billion for thousands of lawmakers’ pet projects, including $51.5 million requested by Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden when both presidential candidates have sworn off seeking any money.
At a time when Congress is negotiating a several-hundred billion dollar proposal to bailout Wall Street, shouldn’t our elected officials be trying to remove extraneous spending in order to prevent the country from falling deeper into debt?
It’s unfortunate that individual Republicans, as well as Democrats, are still requesting tens, if not hundreds of millions in personal earmarks. At least our presidential nominee, John McCain, “who doesn’t request earmarks, has said that as president, he would veto any bill containing them.” His Democratic rival who has requested earmarks in the past, but not this year, has only “pledged to reduce them.”
Doesn’t sound like Obama plans on taking firm line against congressional profligacy.
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Do you ever wonder when the golden goose that pays for all this stuff (all levels of government) is just going to run out of golden eggs?
Comment by SoCalRobert — September 26, 2008 @ 7:04 pm - September 26, 2008