Speaker Ryan Halts Congressional Earmarks. Cited Trump as Reason

[Valin]

Townhall/Tipsheet:

Jason Hopkins

Nov 17, 2016

 

Speaker Paul Ryan put a stop to a closed-door vote between House Republicans on bringing back legislative earmarks. Ryan, citing Trump’s recent election victory, told his colleagues that now is not the time to bring back congressional earmarks. A decision on the matter has been tabled until 2017.

 

Legislative earmarks, the practice of sending federal money to home districts for whatever projects, was done away with when Republicans took control of the House in 2010. Earmarks by that time had been given a bad name after numerous pork-barrel spending projects were publicized. Remember Alaska’s "bridge to nowhere?"

 

However, a strong case has been made for bringing earmarks back to Congress. Lawmakers argue that since abolishing the practice, they have ceded spending authority completely to the executive branch. Some members have suggested earmarks be brought back with reform to prevent abuse and promote transparency. They’ve even rebranded the practice, calling it “congressional district spending.”

 

Reps. Mike Rogers, Tom Rooney, and John Culberson had filed an amendment regarding the earmark spending ban, and another amendment by Rooney even looked to pass during the secret vote among House Republicans.

 

Despite all this, Speaker Ryan urged his colleagues to forget about the amendments for now..............(Snip)

[IowaGranny]

As much as I hate ear marks,, I think it's just absolutely VILE to leave spending decision to faceless bureaucrats who have never campaigned for anything, and are accountable tono one.

[Valin]

Related

Will Trump’s Infrastructure Bill Be a Blue Model Boondoggle?
Jason Willick
Nov. 17 2016

Donald Trump’s promise to spend hundreds of billions of dollars rebuilding U.S. infrastructure may create unusual political dynamics on Capitol Hill. Some Democrats are reportedly eager to cooperate with the administration, either to advance their own priorities or to splinter the Republican coalition; others are likely to become deficit hawks overnight on Inauguration Day.

 

Republicans are also torn. Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell initially suggested that infrastructure spending would not be a Congressional priority. Senator John Thune, meanwhile, recently said that “there’s an interest among our members” in an infrastructure package, although it would likely need to be tied to tax reform. Some small-government Republicans will likely resist measures that seem wasteful or are not fully paid for.

TAI Chairman Francis Fukuyama has pointed out that “a de facto conspiracy of the two political parties” has for many years blocked productive infrastructure in the United States at the federal level. “The Republicans, for their part, do not want to pay for it, and have blocked increases in the gas tax that funds the Highway Trust Fund since the early 1990s… By contrast, the Democrats feel comfortable permitting new projects to death, increasing both their cost and the length of time needed to execute a project.”

 

(Snip)