Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., for years has been against earmarks, so he will have a seat next session on the House Appropriations Committee — the infamous panel that has earned a reputation as a factory for pork-barrel spending. Much to his delight, the Republicans want to ban earmarks. But there are already loopholes, around the idea. Flake is vowing to use his new Appropriations perch to ensure fidelity to the anti-earmark oath and, from there, “do serious oversight on the other 99 percent of the budget.” Fox News
Flakes is also dropping all of his other committee positions, to concentrate exclusively on his new assignment. He plans to target grant programs and other alleged excesses in a bid to pare down the budget. The committee he will soon be joining is known for being a favor factory.
“There’s no way you’ll stamp out every effort by legislators to curry favor with their constituents,” Flake said. “But having the earmark ban certainly marginalizes these efforts, and that’s good. But we need to follow through.”
Earmarks are created when members of Congress designate money in the federal budget for a particular project, usually in his or her home state or district. Although it isn’t new money in the budget, it tags existing funds for a specific purpose. Flake hopes the new rules will have lawmakers going for smaller budgets. Following through on the earmark ban also means shooting down blatant earmarks but also drawing attention to lawmakers’ requests that occur outside the appropriations process.
What lawmakers could then do is lettermarking or phonemarking — where they write or call a friendly contact in a federal agency to request funding for a pet project. If they don’t the lawmaker plans to go through all of the wasteful spending on a weekly basis. And he plans to start with those included in the $858 billion tax-cut extension package passed and signed during the lame-duck session.
Flake’s pledg to go through the bill is where he may come up against his superiors, with stiff opposition. But it is also possible that House Speaker-designate John Boehner, who endorsed Flake for the Appropriations spot, saw him as a potent foil to senior members like incoming Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., renowned for their pork-barrel prowess. Citizens Against Government Waste says Rogers signed on to $98 million worth of earmarks in 2010. The same group reported that Flake endorsed none. Rogers has since pledged to go cold turkey, and Flake said he’ll take him “at his word.” Fox News
Flake said he’ll be coordinating with taxpayer watchdog groups like CAGW next year to keep an eye on anybody who runs afoul of the push toward fiscal cutbacks.
