Budget Blogwatch: Congressional Earmarks

Over at Government BYTES! there’s some interesting buzz regarding the federal budget and associated fiscal woes. Among the excellent pieces being published is a post regarding President Bush’s State of the Union Address. According to Demian Brody, “In his speech, [President Bush] called for net spending increase of $134.6 billion - the biggest single-year amount of his Presidency.” In addition to this post, you can find in-depth analysis of the president’s speech here.

And if you are interested in learning more about the fiscal stance candidates on both sides of the political spectrum hold, be sure to check out a guide to presidential candidates’ spending plans put out by The National Taxpayers Union.

Over at the Americans for Prosperity web portal, much applause is raging for Bush’s earmark executive order. On the Americans for Prosperity blog, Ed Frank publishes a letter from House Republicans to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi regarding pork barrel spending. The letter begins with the following:

“The earmark process in Congress has become a symbol of a broken Washington. Wasteful pork-barrel spending has outraged American families and eroded public confidence in our institution. Both of our parties bear responsibility for this failure.”

While many are applauding the plan, some – like Sen. Ben Nelson – feel that the GOP’s stance is hypocritical. The writers of the liberal d-day Blog mirror Sen. Nelson’s feelings:

“It's very amusing to see the President make his signature proposal in the State of the Union address one about Congressional earmarks. These earmarks skyrocketed over the last 12 years, during the Republican revolution...Bush gladly signed dozens, if not hundreds, of bills that contained them.”

In a more general sense, worry over the budget is still rampant. On the Gov Docs Guy blog, there is chatter over the CBO’s projection that the budget deficit will be increasing. According to a new report “…after three years of declining budget deficits, a slowing economy this year will contribute to an increase in the deficit.”