Mike Thompson Watch

Earmarked Projects Vote (September 2006)

Mike Thompson voted No on the Earmark Reform Resolution (Vote Passed 245-171, 17 Not Voting), an internal House rule requiring Members to identify the special projects they insert into tax, appropriations and authorizing legislation.

Why would Mike not want to identify any special projects he inserts into legislation?

Because that would allow us to know whose payroll he is on. If such projects were in the general interest of the people of this district, you would think he would want his name identified with them.

The overall problem, though, is not Mike. It is 435 Mikes in the House of Representatives. Citizens Against Government Waste, a taxpayer watchdog group, said there were 9,963 such projects in the spending bills for the 2006 budget year, costing $29 billion

Note the Rule does not prohibit wasting taxpayer money on earmarking projects, it just tells us which House members are engaging in the process.

Note the party politics of the vote. Being the party in power right now, the Republican Party has had much more scandal exposed lately. They need to pass some reforms, and one that exposes excess government spending appeals to anti-tax citizens. The democrats want to keep the corruption issue (that is the recent, Republican corruption issue, not the present or historical role of corruption in their own party) alive, so they pretend to want comprehensive anti-corruption laws passed, not small, incremental reforms. despite that, enough democrats joined with Republicans to pass this anti-corruption measure by a wide margin.Watch the two parties reverse their tactics when the situation is reversed.

-- William P. Meyers