Is Murtha Running A Corporation?

By: Representative Scott Garrett

Each time my conservative colleagues and I draw attention to the growing problem of earmarks we hear the retort that they represent only a very small portion of the total federal budget. That can’t be denied, but what is undoubtedly true is that Members and lobbyists also spend a disproportionate amount of energy and time attaining these earmarks.

This energy is misplaced as we face a growing storm of entitlement disaster. Imagine fitting out your house with the finest plumbing system, electronically controlled showers, gold-plated faucets, and a $10,000 dollar toilet with heated seats. You sit back to admire all your investments and then find out that none of it is going to work because you have nothing left to pay the water bill.

We are rushing around gathering up earmarks—a $2 million dollar library named after a sitting Member of Congress, a $39 million dollar intelligence center, a $1 million infrastructure center that may or may not exist—while our increasing entitlement burden will wipe out our ability to fund any discretionary accounts in just a few short years.

And, make no mistake about it – those earmarks add up. While the average House Republican received $8.7 million and the average Democrat received $10.3 million in earmarked funds, the Speaker received some $67 million and Appropriations Cardinal Murtha topped the list at over $179 million in earmarks.

And these two numbers don’t include the earmarks that the Speaker and Chairman Murtha signed on with other members. No doubt, if those numbers were included there would be millions more added to each of their totals.

Congressional districts may be allocated by population, but earmarks are allocated by raw political power. The taxpayers of the fifth district of New Jersey and the twelfth district of Pennsylvania are equal in the eyes of the IRS, but when it comes to the way we spend those taxes there is gross disparity.

With the $166 million in defense earmarks that Rep. Murtha controls, he is no longer a Congressman; he is also the CEO of a mid-sized corporation.

Of course, these numbers don’t account for everything because we have no assurance that earmarks are properly recorded across all of the bills that come to the House floor. The SCHIP conference report was stacked with giveaways and yet the Democrat leadership certified that the bill contained no earmarks.

Speaker Pelosi promised real earmark reform and now we see just how hollow these promises were. Until we have real reform, it will be impossible to control our growing federal budget and ensure that the people’s money is responsibly spent.

U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett is a three- term Republican from the fifth district of New Jersey.