Senators push for 1-year ban on earmarks

Posted February 5, 2010 in Earmarks, News, What I'm Doing

WASHINGTON — South Carolina’s senators have urged Congress to institute a one-year ban on “earmarks,” or funding for congressional lawmakers’ pet projects.

Republican Sens. Jim DeMint and Lindsey Graham also called on their colleagues to approve a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution, which would bar the government from spending more than it takes in.

Nine other lawmakers joined their call, including perhaps the most famous earmark opponent of all — Arizona Sen. John McCain, the 2008 GOP presidential candidate.

“Americans know earmarks are at the heart of the spending addiction in Congress, and they cannot understand why we don’t have to balance the budget, just like they have to,” DeMint, who refuses to seek earmarks, said in a statement.

Graham, who seeks earmarks but supports banning them, said a one-year moratorium would prove that Congress is serious about fiscal responsibility.

The South Carolina Constitution’s balanced-budget amendment requires the governor and the legislature “to make difficult spending decisions — not pass the buck on to future generations,” Graham said. “Now is the time for Congress to do likewise.”

Their proposals came as the House narrowly passed a bill that would allow Congress to borrow up to $1.9 trillion more. The Senate passed it last week, with all Republicans voting no. Supporters say the measure is necessary because the U.S. could default on its debt otherwise.

Though Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill are increasingly voicing concern about the country’s fiscal future, the proposals by DeMint, Graham and others face long odds.

Virtually all Capitol Hill lawmakers seek earmarks, and amending the Constitution isn’t easy.

Raju Chebium
February 5, 2010
Greenville News