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WASHINGTON -- Hundreds of millions of dollars for Mississippi projects ranging from money for improvements to the Jackson-Evers International Airport to programs for job training in Jackson are at stake in a catch-all spending bill up for a Senate vote before the week is up.
Some Republicans and reform-minded Democrats are hoping to topple the bill, though it’s uncertain whether they have the numbers to do so.
The $410 billion omnibus spending package would pay for government operations through September. The sprawling measure, which combines nine budget bills into one, is necessary because Congress failed to finish work last year on funding federal agencies.
Already approved by the House last week, Democratic Senate leaders hope to pass it before a temporary funding measure expires.
But critics in the Senate and others are lashing out at the bill’s huge price tag, particularly zeroing in on at least $7.7 billion in more than 8,000 “member items” – or special earmarks requested by lawmakers.
They complain that projects that get such funding are too often not decided by relative merit, and too often accompanied by campaign contributions from beneficiaries or their lobbyists.
One government-watch group – Taxpayers for Common Sense – has determined from the more than 1,000 pages of budget bill language that Mississippi’s two Republican senators – Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker - are the top two recipients of earmarked dollars for projects in the bill.
According to the group, Cochran was able to get 65 earmarks in the bill for a total of $76 million. In all though, Cochran’s name was attached to 204 earmarks totaling $471 million in spending for projects.
Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, said that as the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Cochran is able to steer dollars toward Mississippi.
“It puts him in a perfect perch to be able to grab as much of the bacon and send it home to Mississippi and he’s certainly taken advantage of that,” Ellis said.
Ellis said Wicker has been able to ride Cochran’s coattails.
Wicker wasn’t as successful earmarking funds on his own and was able to get nine earmarks into the bill for a total of $4 million. But he joined with other members of Congress to support 143 earmarks for projects and programs totaling $391 million.
Cochran and Wicker, in written statements, defended the earmarks as necessary for the state and said that members of Congress are allowed to determine how some federal dollars should be spent for their states.
“Analyses of how the executive branch spends discretionary federal dollars when left to its own devices show that rural states like Mississippi, states that often have a great deal of need, are largely ignored,” Cochran said.
Otherwise, the senators said, decisions would be left to those who know little about Mississippi.
“The bottom line is that federal dollars will always be directed by someone,” Wicker said. “These spending decisions will be made either by elected officials who are accountable to the people who elected them, or by bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. who know very little about the local needs in Mississippi and other states.”
But Ellis said members of Congress who earmark are making the assumption that other areas of the country don’t need that money even more.
“They’re essentially substituting their judgment for rational, merit based thinking on what should be funded,” he said. “… The powerful get the most money and then it trickles down.”
President Barack Obama had promised during his campaign that he would work to limit such “member items.” But Ellis said he hasn’t used his “bully pulpit” as president to do so in this bill – “or at least whittle it down a little.”
The White House has said Obama would change the “rules” regarding such spending in future bills, but has emphasized that this omnibus is a leftover from last year.
Media General News Service reporter Billy House contributed to this report.
Contact Amy Dominello at 202-662-7671 or adominello@mediageneral.com
More online: www.taxpayer.net
Some Republicans and reform-minded Democrats are hoping to topple the bill, though it’s uncertain whether they have the numbers to do so.
The $410 billion omnibus spending package would pay for government operations through September. The sprawling measure, which combines nine budget bills into one, is necessary because Congress failed to finish work last year on funding federal agencies.
Already approved by the House last week, Democratic Senate leaders hope to pass it before a temporary funding measure expires.
But critics in the Senate and others are lashing out at the bill’s huge price tag, particularly zeroing in on at least $7.7 billion in more than 8,000 “member items” – or special earmarks requested by lawmakers.
They complain that projects that get such funding are too often not decided by relative merit, and too often accompanied by campaign contributions from beneficiaries or their lobbyists.
One government-watch group – Taxpayers for Common Sense – has determined from the more than 1,000 pages of budget bill language that Mississippi’s two Republican senators – Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker - are the top two recipients of earmarked dollars for projects in the bill.
According to the group, Cochran was able to get 65 earmarks in the bill for a total of $76 million. In all though, Cochran’s name was attached to 204 earmarks totaling $471 million in spending for projects.
Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, said that as the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Cochran is able to steer dollars toward Mississippi.
“It puts him in a perfect perch to be able to grab as much of the bacon and send it home to Mississippi and he’s certainly taken advantage of that,” Ellis said.
Ellis said Wicker has been able to ride Cochran’s coattails.
Wicker wasn’t as successful earmarking funds on his own and was able to get nine earmarks into the bill for a total of $4 million. But he joined with other members of Congress to support 143 earmarks for projects and programs totaling $391 million.
Cochran and Wicker, in written statements, defended the earmarks as necessary for the state and said that members of Congress are allowed to determine how some federal dollars should be spent for their states.
“Analyses of how the executive branch spends discretionary federal dollars when left to its own devices show that rural states like Mississippi, states that often have a great deal of need, are largely ignored,” Cochran said.
Otherwise, the senators said, decisions would be left to those who know little about Mississippi.
“The bottom line is that federal dollars will always be directed by someone,” Wicker said. “These spending decisions will be made either by elected officials who are accountable to the people who elected them, or by bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. who know very little about the local needs in Mississippi and other states.”
But Ellis said members of Congress who earmark are making the assumption that other areas of the country don’t need that money even more.
“They’re essentially substituting their judgment for rational, merit based thinking on what should be funded,” he said. “… The powerful get the most money and then it trickles down.”
President Barack Obama had promised during his campaign that he would work to limit such “member items.” But Ellis said he hasn’t used his “bully pulpit” as president to do so in this bill – “or at least whittle it down a little.”
The White House has said Obama would change the “rules” regarding such spending in future bills, but has emphasized that this omnibus is a leftover from last year.
Media General News Service reporter Billy House contributed to this report.
Contact Amy Dominello at 202-662-7671 or adominello@mediageneral.com
More online: www.taxpayer.net