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*Obama: End wasteful earmarks*
By: Abby Phillip
November 13, 2010 07:06 AM EST

At the conclusion of his second weekend in Asia, President Barack Obama said
in his weekly address Saturday that, although opening new markets is the
“single greatest tool for getting our fiscal house in order,” members of
Congress should give up wasteful earmarks.

“I agree with those Republican and Democratic members of Congress who’ve
recently said that in these challenging days, we can’t afford what are
called earmarks,” he said.

By raising the issue, Obama put pressure on newly-empowered congressional
Republicans, nearly all of whom ran and won on platforms that included
fiscal responsibility - and who are squabbling over proposals to reform
earmarks, a popular way lawmakers can set aside federal money for pet
projects in their home districts.

Some, including South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint and several tea party-backed
candidates, want a complete ban on the spending, which lawmakers add to
sometimes-unrelated legislation. Others in the GOP - including influential
lawmakers Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Oklahoma Sen. Jim
Inhofe - have lobbied new members to vote against such a sweeping measure,
arguing it does little to rein in federal spending.

Obama, however, cited an infamous project supported by Republicans that
became a symbol of wasteful earmarks during the 2008 election.

“We can’t afford Bridges to Nowhere like the one that was planned a few
years back in Alaska,” Obama said. “Earmarks like these represent a
relatively small part of overall federal spending. But when it comes to
signaling our commitment to fiscal responsibility, addressing them would
have an important impact.”

Obama said investments in infrastructure, investment and research and
development - measures that would create jobs, advance technology and help
rebuild the nation - won’t be possible unless the government and lawmakers
cut spending for things “we don’t need.”

“That’s why I’ve submitted to Congress a plan for a three-year budget
freeze, and I’m prepared to offer additional savings,” Obama said. “But as
we work to reform our budget, Congress should also put some skin in the
game.”

Citing his work on earmark reform during his time in the Senate, Obama said
he and his colleagues were able to reduce the cost of earmarks by over $3
billion, but more needs to be done in light of the country’s dire financial
straits.

“Today, we have a chance to go further," the president said. "We have a
chance to not only shine a light on a bad Washington habit that wastes
billions of taxpayer dollars, but take a step towards restoring public
trust."

Late Friday, House Minority Leader John Boehner and Rep. Eric Cantor of
Virginia - who will become the top two Republicans when the new
congressional session begins in January - released a joint statement calling
on Democrats to hold their own vote to ban earmarks next week, in a bid to
one-up the president's expected announcement. Boehner and Cantor also
said Obama can demonstrate he is "committed to real earmark reform" by
vetoing any bill that includes earmarks. .

In the Republican response to Obama's address, Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.),
who is leading the House Republicans' transition team, focused on the GOP's
plans for aggressively curbing federal spending, but did not specifically
address proposals for an earmark ban.

“For too long, Washington has been doing what’s best for Washington, and
they get away with it,” Walden said. “Too often, accountability counts for
nothing, and transparency for even less, and common sense — well it’s an
endangered species."

Walden said that the new majority in the House would look for ways to cut
the cost of running Congress, make it more efficient, and prevent the
expansion of government.

“And we’re also tracking down every last rule and roadblock rigged to keep
government’s spending binge on autopilot,” Walden said. “If we’re ever going
to change the broken status quo, we need to make it easier to cut spending
and harder to increase it.”
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Eric D. Schwerin
Rosemont Seneca Partners
(202) 333-1880
eschwerin@rosemontseneca.co