I spent nine hours in a mediation yesterday for a case having to do with a pig business relationship gone sour, so I am still thinking porcine thoughts. Presumably that is why Maureen Groppe’s article in the Louisville Courier Press caught my eye. It is entitled “Indiana earmarks nearly $71 million.”
First of all, I tend to think that earmarks are the grease that makes the machine roll. Whether you like them or not should depend on whether you like the machine — the grease is just an incidental part of the process that gets your hands messy if you’re not watching.
Increased transparency of the budget process is going to lead to increased criticism of the process because now you can see more of who requested what. Apparently Pete Visclosky, by virtue of his seniority in the majority and position on a committee writing the spending bill, got the lion’s share of Indiana’s pork. (Now I’m having visions of a lion prowling a confined feeding lot). Reps. Pence and Burton avoided the earmark process and left their districts dry (highlighting a dilemma — do you play the game as it is, or do you wish for something different?)
Senator Lugar apparently came up big for my area — $2.9 million for hybrid buses in Lafayette, $188,00 for Purdue University’s Midwest Center for Bioenergy Grasses, and $188,000 to Purdue for biomass energy research. Thank you Senator Lugar. See how this works? Federal money for local projects that seem sensible gives a voter positive feelings toward the politician that secured the money.
Gannett News Service has a breakdown.
Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Merrillville: $29.3 million
Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind.: $3.3 million
Rep. Brad Ellsworth, D-Evansville: $3.2 million
Rep. Baron Hill, D-Seymour: $3 million
Rep. Joe Donnelly, D-Granger: $2.3 million
Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind.: $1.19 million
Rep. Andre Carson, D-Indianapolis: $1.15 million
Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Monticello: $810,000
Rep. Mark Souder, R-Fort Wayne: $717,500
Rep. Dan Burton, R-Indianapolis: $0
Rep. Mike Pence, R-Columbus: $0
$2.9 million FEDERAL dollars for a CITY bus system.
Looks like sausage to me. What is the point of city taxes if people in Montana are going to pay for items used by a Midwestern city?
Yeah, we feel positive about it – unless we realize that it’s our money, and sending it on a round trip to Washington and back didn’t make it any bigger.
Of course, this way there’s a chance for states to steal from each other (I think Indiana comes out about even, but some states get big bucks at the expense of other states) – with all the feelings of love and equity that such practices naturally bring about…
I’d be 100% behind raising local taxes and lowering federal taxes. You know that taking a round trip to D.C. is going to involve a certain amount of skimming and administrative costs.
If you want to see dog-eat-dog competition, it is when a body of representatives all try to arrive at a ratio higher than 1:1 on taxes in/dollars back. Unsustainable? There it is.
The irony is that the states that get more than their share of federal spending tend to be the ones that wax so indignant about taxation. New York, Massachusetts, etc., have their money funnelled to Alabama, Mississippi, etc. And yet the bitching usually flows in the opposite direction.