RandomGuy
05-29-2008, 08:51 AM
In 1992, Newt Gingrich told the House: “I am committed to hunting down every appropriation ... that is some politician taking care of himself. ... I am going to be prepared to fight every rule on every Appropriation bill.” Then-Rep. Porter Goss (R-Fla.) stated, “Many Americans are saying this is no longer the people’s House but the house of perks and pork.”
From an article on the Politics of Pork. (http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2005/08/poisoningdemocracy.html)
But within a few years of winning the majority, the Republican House had not only failed to cut back on earmarking but had carried the practice to levels unimagined by their Democratic predecessors. The conservative watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste commented in an open letter released just a few months ago: “Over the past 10 years, pork-barrel spending has increased exponentially, from 1,430 projects totaling $10 billion in 1995 to 10,656 projects, totaling $22.9 billion, in 2004. ... Considering Republicans, a political party that long advocated for less government spending and greater fiscal discipline, have been largely in charge of Congress since 1995, these figures are even more appalling.”
From an article on the Politics of Pork. (http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2005/08/poisoningdemocracy.html)
But within a few years of winning the majority, the Republican House had not only failed to cut back on earmarking but had carried the practice to levels unimagined by their Democratic predecessors. The conservative watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste commented in an open letter released just a few months ago: “Over the past 10 years, pork-barrel spending has increased exponentially, from 1,430 projects totaling $10 billion in 1995 to 10,656 projects, totaling $22.9 billion, in 2004. ... Considering Republicans, a political party that long advocated for less government spending and greater fiscal discipline, have been largely in charge of Congress since 1995, these figures are even more appalling.”