Citizens Against Government Waste, the organization dedicated to ending wasteful government spending with its mascot “Pigfoot,” released its Congressional Pig Book on Wednesday, a list of earmarks hidden in bills each fiscal year.
Since its inception in fiscal 1991, CAGW has identified 132,434 earmarks costing taxpayers $460.3 billion. This year, it identified 8,222 earmarks costing taxpayers $22.7 billion.
The organization’s president, Thomas Schatz, highlighted the top five recipients of earmarked spending: Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Angus King (I-ME), Brian Schatz (D-HI), and Chuck Schumer (D-NY). These five legislators, constituting just 0.93% of the 535 members of Congress, together received $2,345,913,685, or 10.3% of the total cost of the fiscal 2024 earmarks, the same percentage the top five claimed in fiscal 2023. Any situation in which so few legislators make up this much funding, especially considering the small populations of many of these states, underscores the need for changing this process.
“More than 99 percent of Democrats got earmarks compared to 62 percent of Republicans, and only three of the top 40 porkers were from the House of Representatives,” Schatz said in a statement critiquing the inequitable process. He reiterated that the 90-member appropriations committee of the House and Senate represents only 17% of Congress but makes up 42.2% of earmarks. He said the practice is most often seen with the most powerful legislators reaping the benefits and the rest being left out in the cold.
Then the conference had several representatives come to express their support. Rep. Bob Good (R-VA) stressed that “earmarks represent the worst of Washington.” He contrasted the current “unprecedented era of debt to GDP ratio” and the post-World War II debt accrual. Good argued that World War II-era legislators “did not leave a legacy of debt.” Using this example from the Greatest Generation, he was careful to stress the contrast with the current lowered credit ratings in the United States. He summarized that “earmarks incentivize bad votes on bad bills.”
Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) angled his remarks to criticize that “Republicans cannot reclaim fiscal responsibility without ending earmarks.” He highlighted the danger of this funding practice.
“It is no coincidence that so many of the political scandals involve earmarks,” because they “turn the federal budget into a grab bag,” McClintock said.
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Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-AZ) and Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) further expressed their disdain for earmarks as they echoed the concern that it is a form of “legalized bribery.”
The annual release of the Pig Book highlights some of the damage Washington leaders can do when they are allowed to go without public accountability. Most of the speakers recognized that occasionally there is a good earmark, but the costs usually outweigh the benefits. The government must stop using taxpayer money for pet projects and vote-buying, and it must end or significantly reduce earmarks.