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| Hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb speaks during a Reuters Newsmaker event in Manhattan, New York, U.S., September 21, 2016. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly |
May 12, 2017
Washington, DC – John Hines, OAN Senior Political Correspondent
The term “congressional earmark” refers to the longstanding practice in which Members of Congress allocate pork barrel spending for their own districts. House Speaker Paul Ryan has placed a moratorium on earmarks saying they lead to uncontrolled spending. But now there is new evidence that Congress may have a system for “stealth earmarks.”
“What I’ve found is a PowerPoint presentation that proves that both parties are still using the earmark process secretly just now calling it ‘earmarks.’ But the earmark process goes on,” claims Patrick Howley, Editor, Big League Politics.com. “In the article, I refer to it as ‘stealth earmarks,’ which I think is a good term that pretty much encapsulates it. This is a PowerPoint presentation delivered by Appropriations leadership to GOP Congressmen. So, it’s a pass word only on-line system where Congressmen can go in and make their submissions for the earmarks they want and in 80 or 90 percent of cases they get the pork barrel spending that they want,” the reporter explains.”
The Power Point presentation proves that both parties are still using the earmark process, says Howley, nevertheless, he says the document specifically discourages the term “earmark.”
“In fact they even have a chart here, where they go through the you know the system for how a bill becomes a law. And they have a little yellow box with an arrow going around the typical system and says this is how you get your earmarks into the bill. Don’t use the term ‘earmarks,’ they even tell the Members ‘do not use the term earmark’ and do not be germane in the language that you use with these submissions,”he states.
Indeed, the document instructs members not to use the term earmark, and, even though Bill Christian of Citizens Against Government Waste says he cannot confirm the legitimacy of the document, the practice–if true–is disturbing.
“I would say that it would be disturbing if such a secretive end run around the earmark moratorium did in fact exist. This betrayal of the elected representatives’ pledge to abandon the corruptive practice of earmarking would run completely counter to the ‘drain the swamp’ message of the 2016 elections,” says Christian.
Appropriations Committee spokesperson Jennifer Hing commented officially in an email: “The notion that this was an instruction on earmarks is a total fabrication. This was simply an educational document to explain the proper way for members and their constituents to have their voices heard in the federal funding process. In fact, the committee specifically warns against asking for earmarks in any way.”
Washington, DC – John Hines, OAN Senior Political Correspondent
The term “congressional earmark” refers to the longstanding practice in which Members of Congress allocate pork barrel spending for their own districts. House Speaker Paul Ryan has placed a moratorium on earmarks saying they lead to uncontrolled spending. But now there is new evidence that Congress may have a system for “stealth earmarks.”
“What I’ve found is a PowerPoint presentation that proves that both parties are still using the earmark process secretly just now calling it ‘earmarks.’ But the earmark process goes on,” claims Patrick Howley, Editor, Big League Politics.com. “In the article, I refer to it as ‘stealth earmarks,’ which I think is a good term that pretty much encapsulates it. This is a PowerPoint presentation delivered by Appropriations leadership to GOP Congressmen. So, it’s a pass word only on-line system where Congressmen can go in and make their submissions for the earmarks they want and in 80 or 90 percent of cases they get the pork barrel spending that they want,” the reporter explains.”
The Power Point presentation proves that both parties are still using the earmark process, says Howley, nevertheless, he says the document specifically discourages the term “earmark.”
“In fact they even have a chart here, where they go through the you know the system for how a bill becomes a law. And they have a little yellow box with an arrow going around the typical system and says this is how you get your earmarks into the bill. Don’t use the term ‘earmarks,’ they even tell the Members ‘do not use the term earmark’ and do not be germane in the language that you use with these submissions,”he states.
Indeed, the document instructs members not to use the term earmark, and, even though Bill Christian of Citizens Against Government Waste says he cannot confirm the legitimacy of the document, the practice–if true–is disturbing.
“I would say that it would be disturbing if such a secretive end run around the earmark moratorium did in fact exist. This betrayal of the elected representatives’ pledge to abandon the corruptive practice of earmarking would run completely counter to the ‘drain the swamp’ message of the 2016 elections,” says Christian.
Appropriations Committee spokesperson Jennifer Hing commented officially in an email: “The notion that this was an instruction on earmarks is a total fabrication. This was simply an educational document to explain the proper way for members and their constituents to have their voices heard in the federal funding process. In fact, the committee specifically warns against asking for earmarks in any way.”
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