Back to Earmarks

The New York Times reports today that President Bush will probably pass on a legal tactic that would drastically cut earmarks, but he will probably insist on better justification for the practice.

Earmarks are actually a fairly small part of the total federal budget. But the practice goes directly to one of the most important takeaways from the public opinion research done by Facing Up. The public can grasp the budget problems facing the nation, and they're even willing to make sacrifices if need be to fix them. But they won't make sacrifices unless they're confident that the government will spend their money wisely. Earmarks sap that confidence. And it's hard to see how we can solve our budget problems without it.