db44
Sep 10th, 2008, 06:50 PM
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/10/earmark.check/index.html
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The debate over government spending is heating up on the campaign trail and raising greater focus on which presidential candidate will really change the way Washington does business.
Sen. John McCain has criticized politicians who request millions in so-called earmarks.
1 of 2 But will that sway the American electorate?
Sen. John McCain has been a crusader against so-called earmarks and says his opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, has asked for almost $1 billion in pork-barrel projects for his state in just less than four years in the Senate.
"Nearly a million dollars for every day that he's been in office! And that's change? My friends, don't be fooled," McCain said September 9.
Earmarks are requests for money by a specific legislator, usually for her or his constituency, added onto often-unrelated government spending bills.
According to the nonpartisan watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense, Obama has asked for nearly $1 billion in earmarks during his Senate term. But the group gives him credit for disclosing his requests, which most members of Congress don't do.
Obama has not made any requests for the next fiscal year, and even when he was asking for earmarks, he was far from the worst offender, the group says.
"Just to put it into perspective, he got $98 million worth of earmarks in fiscal year 2008. Sen. [Hillary] Clinton got more than $300 million in earmarks, and Sen. [Thad] Cochran, Republican of the [Senate] Appropriations Committee, got $800 million in earmarks," Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense said.
Obama's running mate, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, doesn't come close to that. But Biden also has never disclosed what he's asked for, until this year. Biden's office said he's requesting about $300 million.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The debate over government spending is heating up on the campaign trail and raising greater focus on which presidential candidate will really change the way Washington does business.
Sen. John McCain has criticized politicians who request millions in so-called earmarks.
1 of 2 But will that sway the American electorate?
Sen. John McCain has been a crusader against so-called earmarks and says his opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, has asked for almost $1 billion in pork-barrel projects for his state in just less than four years in the Senate.
"Nearly a million dollars for every day that he's been in office! And that's change? My friends, don't be fooled," McCain said September 9.
Earmarks are requests for money by a specific legislator, usually for her or his constituency, added onto often-unrelated government spending bills.
According to the nonpartisan watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense, Obama has asked for nearly $1 billion in earmarks during his Senate term. But the group gives him credit for disclosing his requests, which most members of Congress don't do.
Obama has not made any requests for the next fiscal year, and even when he was asking for earmarks, he was far from the worst offender, the group says.
"Just to put it into perspective, he got $98 million worth of earmarks in fiscal year 2008. Sen. [Hillary] Clinton got more than $300 million in earmarks, and Sen. [Thad] Cochran, Republican of the [Senate] Appropriations Committee, got $800 million in earmarks," Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense said.
Obama's running mate, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, doesn't come close to that. But Biden also has never disclosed what he's asked for, until this year. Biden's office said he's requesting about $300 million.