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DEL.ICIO.USPrice goes cold turkey on pork
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rep. Tom Price has been railing against the congressional “earmark” process that allows lawmakers to sneak funding for their pet projects into massive spending bills without public scrutiny.
But last year alone Price used earmarks to secure more than $600,000 for his district, including an expansion of the Cobb County expressway. He was among the 12 Georgia congressmen who requested about 180 earmarks worth more than $200 million.
But that typical congressional attitude - to condemn publicly and benefit privately - has got to end, Price said Tuesday.
And so to bolster his own credibility on the issue and set a daunting standard for others, Price said he’s no longer going to ask for earmarks that would fund projects back home.
“This was a while in coming,” Price said. “It was time to stand up or leave.”
Indeed, the earmark system has remained in place so long because many members of Congress view the task of bringing money back home as a top priority, maybe even their No. 1 duty in Washington.
With Congress at an all-time low in popularity, the majority Democrats this year sought public favor by cutting back the number of earmarks allowed and for the first time required House members who made the requests publicly identify themselves.
But Price and other conservatives say that’s not enough; more than 11,000 earmarks still found their way into the 2008 federal budget. All circumvented public scrutiny and too many, Price said, benefited private companies or campaign donors.
Price said he’s not going to leave local projects complete unfunded. There are less controversial ways to secure money for roads, water treatment plants, etc., including federal grants for which projects from around the country must compete.
“I believe the system is corrupt,” Price said, “and it has to be changed.”
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Comments
By RJ
January 22, 2008 11:48 PM | Link to this
Typical Price and typical Republican hypocrit. Earmarks exploded when the Republicans controlled Congress. Now that identity must accompany an earmark request he knows he can no longer say one thing and do another so what does he do…declare “he believes the system is corrupt and has to be changed.”
Transparancy is a aunch enemy of the hypocrit. Simply put, Tom Price has no moral or any other standing whatsoever to speak on the earmark issue because he is one of its strongest convoluters.
By GaVoter
January 23, 2008 7:34 AM | Link to this
Well Mr. Price, I must say that I agree with your statement that the system is corrupt and that it has to be changed. So, when are you going to translate these bold words into a measurable result? Why don’t you introduce legislation designed to actually eliminate pork? Why don’t you publish a list of all pork along with a description of who benefits from it and who sponsored it on a web site for all to see? Put up or shut up, Mr. Price.
By Jerry
January 23, 2008 10:23 AM | Link to this
Politics, like business, is amoral. You go for the highest profit. If we-the-people really wanted earmarks to stop, it would be profitable for a politician not to take any and use that fact in his or her campaigning. But that’s not the case. We-the-people want OUR earmarks because they’re right and proper. It’s those other people’s earmarks we want stopped. Just try to find a voter in Cobb complaining about Price’s earmarks.
By Will Jones
January 23, 2008 10:52 AM | Link to this
With the election fraud confirmed by the GAO and the unconstitutional Bush v. Gore (per the Breyer Dissent), we must first ensure clean, secure voting. We, the sovereign People, must then de-link money, where the plutocrats who have corrupted our system have the edge, and politics: make it a felony to give or receive a campaign contribution/bribe by any candidate, elected official, or American Citizen or foreign national. Let our elections be true that those we make Elect lead us in Righteousness and Truth.
The overt treason of 9-11, and the same faction’s murder of King, Kennedy and our dead of Vietnam, must be adjudicated and the Roman Anti-Christ’s Fifth Column extirpated. Only then will Our Republic be secure.
By RJ
January 23, 2008 11:08 AM | Link to this
An earmark is a fiscal set-aside put in a spending bill by a member of Congress. Our US constitution grants Congress that authority. There is nothing inherently wrong with it.
The problem is the stealth, corruptable, and politically hypocritical ways the earmarking process has been used primarily, not exclusively, by the Republicans.
Now that more transparancy has been attached to the earmarking process and more citizens are acquiring a better understanding of exactly what they are, the hypocrits are coming out of the woodworks like ants.
The more knowledge we acquire about how our governmental systems work the less we are subject to being bamboozled.
By JK
January 23, 2008 12:02 PM | Link to this
So Tom Price admits to being complicit in corruption? Maybe that’s why he was a no-show for the debates his people scheduled with his opponent in the ‘06 election. When in the wrong, hide out and wait. Good strategery, Doctor.
By Craig
January 23, 2008 12:20 PM | Link to this
BUT will he tell the rest of the delegation to not send anything his way either? He has not come out to refuse anyone else earmarking for him. Or why not call on the rest of the GA GOP delegation to do the same? Show some leadership Tom.
By joycegian
January 27, 2008 7:08 AM | Link to this
Price is a liar. He voted to give the no need airport in no where Ballgorund Ga millions for “expansion” so rich vacationers and businessman can fly their private planes in. This pork in no way helps the average people in North Ga.