Omnibusting: Omnibus Spending Bill, Earmarks, Pork and Budget Gimmicks

President Bush’s focus has shifted to an economic stimulus package, but that hasn’t discouraged fiscal conservatives from pursuing an executive order canceling lawmakers’ earmarks. A coalition of 24 groups signed a letter to Bush today asking him to bring an end to the “earmark era.”

January 18, 2008

The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear. Mr. President:

On behalf of the millions of grassroots Americans we represent, we write to ask you to protect taxpayers by issuing an Executive Order that instructs all Federal agencies to ignore non-legislative earmarks tucked into committee reports and statements of managers. Now is the time to take back the appropriations process for the American people. Just as many families make decisions to cut wasteful spending when needed, the federal government must also set priorities and cut spending when necessary.

A December 18 analysis by the Congressional Research Service concluded that it is clearly within your legal authority to eliminate all earmarks that appear in committee reports or manager’s statements. By eliminating the over 9,000 earmarks included in the report language of the FY08 Omnibus spending bill, you will send a clear message to Congress that wasteful, secretive spending of taxpayer dollars will not be tolerated.

This situation requires strong action from the President, not transparent political ploys that fail to get the job done. For example, a rescissions package, in which the President submits a list of already-passed provisions for cancellation, would be the equivalent of doing nothing because it requires action from the very same Congress that passed the wasteful earmarks. Similarly, an Executive Order covering only “air-dropped” earmarks, those not appearing in either the House or Senate version of a bill and added in conference, would be a weak answer to a serious problem. The omnibus appropriations bill contained only 300 air-dropped projects and such an order would provide little disincentive for future earmarks.

We urge you to listen to the voice of millions of citizens across the country who resent wasteful earmarking. You have the authority and opportunity to put Congress back on the path to fiscal responsibility. We hope you will seize this opportunity and protect the American taxpayer from further abuse by ending the earmark era. Thank you for your leadership on this issue.

Sincerely,

American Civil Rights Union
American Conservative Union
American Family Association
Americans for Prosperity
Americans for the Preservation of Liberty
Americans for Tax Reform
American Values
Citizens against Government Waste
Council for America
Catholic Vote.org
Coalitions for America
Concerned Women for America
Eagle Forum
English First
Evergreen Freedom Foundation
Family Research Council
Let Freedom Ring
National Center for Public Policy Research
National Taxpayers Union
Porkbusters.org
Rightmarch.com
Taxpayers for Common Sense
U.S. Business and Industry Council
60 Plus Association

If you’re on Facebook, please join the new group created by Phil Kerpen called Cancel Earmarks by Executive Order. There are already 200 people signed up as members.

With pressure mounting on President Bush to issue an executive order canceling lawmakers’ earmarks, Citizens Against Government Waste threw its weight behind the idea in a letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Jim Nussle today.

Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) was pleased to hear President Bush state in his December 29 radio address that he is disappointed that Congress sent him “a massive spending bill that includes about 9,800 earmarks.” He is correct when he said, “Earmarks are special interest items that are slipped into big spending bills … often at the last hour, without discussion or debate.” Furthermore, we were heartened to hear that the Administration is “reviewing options to address wasteful earmark spending.”

The best option to address the wasteful spending is for the President to issue an Executive Order instructing federal agencies to ignore the more than 9,000-plus earmarks found in the fiscal 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Act and 2,000-plus earmarks found in the Defense Appropriations Act.

As you know, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) asked the Congressional Research Service (CRS) for a legal analysis of the President’s authority to issue an Executive Order that would instruct federal agency officials to ignore congressional earmarks contained in committee report language and whether earmarks contained only in committee report language are legally binding on federal agencies. In its reply to Sen. DeMint (enclosed), the CRS stated that based on their review of the “relevant constitutional provisions, statutes, and applicable case law it appears that the President possesses the necessary legal and constitutional authority to issue such an executive order,” and that “the language of committee reports do not meet the procedural requirements of Article I of the Constitution – specifically, bicameralism and presentment – they are not laws and, therefore, are not legally binding on executive agencies.”

Again echoing the President’s call to Congress to “restrain spending, keep taxes low, and continue on a path towards a balanced budget” and ensure the money taxpayers “send to Washington is spent wisely – or not at all,” I urge President Bush and your office to issue an Executive Order directing federal agencies to ignore earmarks. Such an action would be controversial and no doubt many members of Congress would be upset that their pork-barrel spending would be halted. However, stopping earmark spending would go a long way in restoring fiscal order to Washington. Instead of wasting precious time and tax dollars to provide funds to construct a gas station in Wilberforce, Ohio; build an organized crime museum in Las Vegas, Nevada; and support the First Tee golf program, such an Executive Order would help Congress to focus on more important federal issues, such as saving Medicare from bankruptcy.

Conservative groups and bloggers are growing increasingly vocal about their desire for President Bush to issue an executive order canceling lawmakers’ earmarks in the omnibus spending bill. There is already widespread support for the idea among fiscal conservatives.

Today several groups called attention to the idea. Dick Armey, president of FreedomWorks, issued an action alert that asked his organization’s members to contact the White House. The letter reads in part:

I am writing to ask you to issue an executive order directing federal departments and agencies not to spend any tax dollars that aren’t explicitly appropriated in the text of the Fiscal Year 2008 Omnibus Spending Bill. If you are serious about stopping the plague of earmarks, using this power would be a great way to show Congress they can’t waste our tax dollars.

Gary Bauer, president of American Values, used his daily e-mail to supporters to call attention to the issue.

With each passing day, we learn more discouraging news about items tucked into the massive $550 billion “omnibus” spending bill Congress recently passed. One of the items that caught our attention was the inclusion of legislative language that allows the District of Columbia to spend taxpayer dollars on needle exchange programs. …

Here’s another example of misplaced spending priorities: During the Senate debate on the omnibus spending bill, Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) tried to offer an amendment that would have redirected all earmarked spending to improving deficient roads and bridges, like the bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis.

The Coburn amendment was denied even a vote due to an objection from Senate Democrat Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). But in future years, visitors to Las Vegas will be able to stop by the new post office museum, thanks to a $200,000 earmark requested by Senator Reid and paid for by you.

Meanwhile, the issue is also gaining steam in the blogosphere. Ed Morrissey of Captain’s Quarters cited sources on Capitol Hill who noted that appropriators are leaning heavily on President Bush to back down from an executive order.

The EO advocates need to remind Bush that only through dramatic action can the GOP reclaim any momentum on fiscal responsibility. A rescission package would only play into the hands of the same people who larded up the spending bill while delivering it three months late.

RedState has also joined the fight.

President Bush used his weekly radio address to once again criticize Congress for including nearly 10,000 earmarks in the omnibus spending bill.

I’m disappointed that leaders in Congress sent me a massive spending bill that includes about 9,800 earmarks. Earmarks are special interest items that are slipped into big spending bills like this one — often at the last hour, without discussion or debate. Among the earmarks Congress approved was one for a prison museum and another for a sailing school. In the last election, congressional leaders ran on a promise that they would reform earmarks. They made some progress, but not nearly enough. So my Administration is reviewing options to address wasteful earmark spending.

The fact that Bush is still talking about doing something to end earmarks is a good sign, but this fight is far from over.

President Bush’s suggestion that he would explore ways to stop wasteful earmarks in the $555-billion omnibus spending bill has been meet with praise from conservatives. Here’s just a sampling what’s being said about the idea of an executive order halting earmarks.

Weekly Standard Executive Editor Fred Barnes:

President Bush will take on congressional earmarks — you know, that wasteful special spending that members of Congress stuff in the budget. And here’s what he can do. He can nullify thousands of them because they’re not technically a part of the budget. They’re separate from it. He’s going to do it.

Washington Examiner:

It appears President Bush has a legal tool at his disposal that could be quickly employed to eliminate most congressional earmarks with the stroke of a pen, and it comes to him courtesy of the Congressional Research Service (CRS). The never-before-used tool is a presidential executive order directing federal departments and agencies not to spend any tax dollars that aren’t explicitly appropriated in the text of a bill… The monstrous spending bill was more than 3,500 pages long, counting its associated reports, with nearly 700 of those pages being lists of 9,400-plus earmarks. Together with the earmarks included in a defense bill approved earlier in the year, the first session of the 110th Congress approved more than 11,000 earmarks, the second-highest annual total in recent years.

Wall Street Journal:

Our suggestion is that Mr. Bush instruct his cabinet not to spend money on earmarks that aren’t specifically mentioned in the language of the spending bill. Most are listed in accompanying Appropriations Committee reports that lack the force of law. The point of this Congressional ruse, in part, is to let Members “air-drop” earmarks at the last minute and thus escape scrutiny by other Members who might try to expose their “Bridges to Nowhere” on the House or Senate floor. Mr. Bush assailed this habit in this year’s State of the Union address, and the Members cheered. So why not force Congress to live up to its applause?

Americans for Prosperity Policy Director Phil Kerpen:

Back in 1987, Reagan’s budget director, Jim Miller (who is on my organization’s board of directors), devised a simple solution to the earmark problem: uphold the U. S. Constitution… Miller instructed executive agencies to comply with the law, the actual legislative language, but to disregard the earmarks in the accompanying reports and to instead spend funds on their priorities based on project merit and the president’s own priorities. Capitol Hill erupted in protest, threatening all sorts of retaliation if their pork wasn’t protected… President Bush is extraordinarily well-situated to complete what Reagan started, and put an end to report language earmarks… Mr. President, all I want for Christmas is an executive order de-funding earmarks. Please?

Larry Kudlow:

In the most dramatic statement of his holiday news conference, Mr. Bush said he will not stand for the continuing congressional proliferation of pork-barrel earmarks… This is huge. The statute of limitations for Republican overspending, over-earmarking, and over-corrupting that caused huge congressional losses in last year’s campaign will not run out until the GOP shows taxpayers that it again can be trusted on the key issues of limited government and lower taxes. In these matters, Republicans must be holier than the pope.

Denver Post:

Similar conflicts of interest and unseemly handouts can be averted by curbing pork-barrel projects. Yet citizens are left to wonder why no steps been taken to restrain this obvious abuse of power. Evidently, there is bipartisan agreement when it comes to pork: more is better. The president, who has a well-earned reputation for out-of-control spending himself, has claimed he will investigate ways to deal with earmarks. We hope he does. As it stands now, the only winners are politicians and their special interests. The loser, as always, is the average taxpayer.

Dan Thomasson of Scripps Howard News Service:

Congress, that irrepressible spending machine that is held in lower public esteem than even the current war-strapped president, has been busy stuffing constituent Christmas stockings full of goodies and if you happen to be one of the lucky ones, the coming year should be a good one. That is if George W. Bush doesn’t issue an order to his troops to ignore most of the outlandish projects tacked on to the $555 billion omnibus appropriations bill just passed and the $459 billion defense appropriations measure adopted last month. Could he do that? Probably. Should he do that? He most definitely should.

Syndicated Columnist George Will:

Hell bent on driving its approval rating into single digits, Congress adjourned after passing an omnibus spending bill larded with at least 8,993 earmarks costing at least $7.4 billion — the precise number and amount will be unclear until implications of some obscure provisions are deciphered. The gusher of earmarks was a triumph of bipartisanship, which often is a synonym for kleptocracy.

President Bush signed the $555-billion omnibus spending bill yesterday and reiterated his dislike for the pork-barrel projects included in the legislation.

I am disappointed in the way the Congress compiled this legislation, including abandoning the goal I set early this year to reduce the number and cost of earmarks by half. Instead, the Congress dropped into the bill nearly 9,800 earmarks that total more than $10 billion. These projects are not funded through a merit-based process and provide a vehicle for wasteful Government spending.

Bush’s statement didn’t specific any specific steps he would take to trim the fat from the bill, but the White House later confirmed that Office of Management and Budget Director Jim Nussle was still exploring ways to curtain the earmarks.

A coalition of government watchdogs wrote to President Bush today asking him to issue an executive order directing all federal agencies to ignore non-legislative earmarks.

Mr. President:

This past week, Congress passed an omnibus spending bill that will soon be presented for your signature. While it is consistent with the total budget targets your administration has set, the 3,417 pages of the bill and associated reports are bloated by more than 9,000 earmarks which were subjected to little or no review during the scant 24 hours between the publishing of the bill text and the House voting to pass it. When combined with the more than 2,000 earmarks in the Defense Appropriations Bill this Congress has churned out over 11,000 earmarks this year. The vast majority of these earmarks do not even appear in the legislative text, but rather are buried in the committee reports that accompany the bill, further removing them from proper review and scrutiny. While the total number of earmarks is down compared to record highs and there is increased transparency, there are still far too many to be effectively vetted.

The rushed way in which Congress passed the omnibus — one of the largest pieces of legislation ever considered — made a mockery of our legislative process, and Congress itself bears the responsibility and shame for that. But you have the power to send a message both to Congress and the American people that the waste and corrupting influence of earmarks will not be tolerated. A December 18 legal analysis by the Congressional Research Service concluded that “because the language of committee reports do not meet the procedural requirements of Article I of the Constitution — specifically, bicameralism and presentment — they are not laws and, therefore, are not legally binding on executive agencies. … Given both the implied legal and constitutional authority as well as the long-standing accepted process of Presidents, it appears that a President can, if he so chooses, issue an executive order with respect to earmarks contained solely in committee reports and not in any way incorporated into the legislative text.”

On December 20, you stated that you were “instructing the budget director to review options for dealing with the wasteful spending in the omnibus bill.” We applaud you for this leadership, and ask that you follow through by issuing an executive order formally directing all Federal agencies to ignore non-legislative earmarks tucked into committee reports and statements of managers. Such an action is within your Constitutional powers, and would strike a blow for fiscal responsibility now while setting a valuable precedent for the future.

Tell Congress and the American public that the era of earmarks is over, and that the Congressional “favor factory” which mints earmarks is closed. The American taxpayer will applaud such an action, as will the many honest legislators in Congress who are trying to fight the broken and corrupt appropriations machine. We hope that you embrace this opportunity, and thank you for your leadership on this issue.

Sincerely,
American Conservative Union
American Values
Americans for Prosperity
Americans for Tax Reform
Calvert Institute for Policy Research
Citizens Against Government Waste
Club for Growth
Commonwealth Foundation
Eagle Forum
Evergreen Freedom Foundation
Family Research Council
Freedom Works
Illinois Policy Institute
Larry Kudlow, Kudlow & Company, LLC
The National Tax Limitation Committee
National Taxpayers Union
Porkbusters.org
Taxpayers for Common Sense

Hat Tip: Porkbusters.org

A political cartoon by Roll Call’s R.J. Matson:

Brad Dayspring of the Republican Study Committee reports that the omnibus includes more than 300 “air-dropped” earmarks, meaning they were secretly inserted in back-room negotiations between House and Senate appropriators.

This means that these specific earmarks were not passed by either the House or Senate during previous consideration of spending bills, were not subject to a point of order, amendment or debate on the floor of either body questioning their merit.

Click here for the complete list of “air-dropped” earmarks.

Republican Study Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.) plans to seek an immediate suspension of the earmarking process after learning Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-Mich.) suggested to Speaker Nancy Pelosi that the procurement of additional earmarks could assist the campaigns of vulnerable Democrats.

In a letter to Pelosi last Thursday, Kilpatrick noted the unequal distribution of earmarks and suggested a more favorable distribution of taxpayer-funded earmarks would help members of the Congressional Black Caucus in their political campaigns.

Inherently, we understand that this earmark process is not equitable. … There are a few examples of where your help could significantly assist a few members in highly contested races.

Hensarling cited a report earlier this year from the Wall Street Journal, which reported that veteran appropriator Rep. John Murtha had “rebuilt [his] hometown on earmarks,” noting that “Johnstown’s good fortune has come at the expense of taxpayers everywhere else.”

Sen. Jim DeMint’s office has compiled the following top 10 list of reasons to oppose the omnibus.

1. Contains more than 11,000 wasteful pork projects, second highest in history
2. Overspends by $24.3 billion in gimmicks, largest spending bill in history
3. Weakens border security, reduces fencing
4. Cuts national security to pay for liberal social programs
5. Cuts abstinence funding; increases Planned Parenthood funding
6. Cuts labor oversight; increases funding to labor unions
7. Cuts funding for U.S. Marshals Service that enforces sex offender registry
8. Allows government to sue businesses that require English in the workplace
9. Spends millions to help solve energy problems … in North Korea
10. Increases funding for National Endowment for the Arts

Earlier today, Heritage released its own top 10 list of the biggest problems with the bill.

“The Democratic Leadership of the House is cutting in half the number of earmarks in this year’s appropriation bills.”
– House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, March 13, 2007

So much for Pelosi’s pledge. The mammoth $515 billion omnibus spending bill obliterates the Democrats’ promise to slash pork-barrel projects. As the Senate moves toward consideration of the bill, a thorough analysis reveals the omnibus actually increases the number of earmarks to a total of 11,331 — a 426% increase over the number from last year, when there were just 2,658 earmarks last year. The omnibus alone contains at least 9,170 pork projects, comprising 696 pages, or one-fifth, of the bill.

Here are some of the highlights:

• Beverly Hills Veterans Park ($4,000,000,000)
• Rangel Monument to Me ($2,000,000)
• Rodent control in Alaska ($113,000)
• Olive fruit fly research in France ($213,000)
• Hunting and Fishing Museum in Pennsylvania ($200,000)
• Louis Armstrong Museum in New York ($150,000)
• A bike trail in Minnesota ($700,000)
• A river walk in Massachusetts ($1,000,000)
• A post office museum in downtown Las Vegas ($200,000); and
• The Lincoln Park Zoo in Illinois ($37,000)

No one knows the exact cost of the earmarks in the mammoth omnibus, but they could easily exceed $18 billion, which nearly matches that $18.9 billion spent on earmarks in FY2005.

In comparison, a continuing resolution would result in 2,161 earmarks, which were already included in the Defense appropriations bill.

Hat Tip: Sen. Jim DeMint

Senators Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and U.S. Representatives John Shadegg (R-Ariz.), Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.) and John Campbell (R-Calif.) are putting pressure on President Bush to keep his commitment to cut the number and cost of earmarks at least in half.

In his 2007 State of the Union address, Bush said:

Next, there is the matter of earmarks. These special interest items are often slipped into bills at the last hour – when not even C-SPAN is watching. In 2005 alone, the number of earmarks grew to over 13,000 and totaled nearly $18 billion. Even worse, over 90 percent of earmarks never make it to the floor of the House and Senate – they are dropped into committee reports that are not even part of the bill that arrives on my desk. You didn’t vote them into law. I didn’t sign them into law. Yet, they’re treated as if they have the force of law. The time has come to end this practice. So let us work together to reform the budget process, expose every earmark to the light of day and to a vote in Congress, and cut the number and cost of earmarks at least in half by the end of this session.

Yesterday, it appeared the White House was backing away from that goal by refusing to issue a veto threat solely on the explosion of earmarks. Office of Management and Budget Director Jim Nussle said bluntly, “I don’t think [President Bush] has ever made the statement that he would veto legislation because of the insistence of earmarks.” Nussle said Bush needs the line-item veto to effectively chop earmarks from spending bills.

According to the earmark baseline developed by the Office of Management and Budget, there were 13,492 appropriations earmarks in fiscal year 2005. In order to meet Bush’s “50 percent reduction,” Congress could not pass more than 6,476 earmarks for fiscal year 2008.

So far, however, 9,170 earmarks have been discovered in the 2008 omnibus spending bill. This amount, in addition to the 2,161 earmarks in the 2008 defense spending bill (none of which were requested by the Pentagon), brings this year’s earmark total to 11,331 earmarks for 2008, a mere 16 percent reduction compared to OMB’s baseline of 13,492 earmarks in 2005.

UPDATE: Andy Roth of the Club for Growth rounds up comments from Senators Coburn and DeMint and Representatives Shadegg, Hensarling and Campbell.

Before the omnibus bill was released, The Heritage Foundation set five key benchmarks for determining whether the forthcoming bill would be the fiscally responsible. Brian Riedl explains why bill fails to meet four of those benchmarks.

Congress pledged to limit discretionary spending to President Bush’s $932 billion request and to cut the number of earmarks in half from the 2005 peak level. This omnibus bill breaks both pledges. With more than 11,000 earmarks costing approximately $20 billion, Congress decided to bust the budget by $20 billion through the use of gimmicks. Lawmakers should reject such irresponsible budgeting and eliminate the pork projects in order to offset any new spending. Otherwise, President Bush should veto this bill, and insist on a year-long continuing resolution that would likely save taxpayers more than $30 billion relative to the omnibus.

From the Politico:

 The mammoth appropriations bill now being considered by Congress contains a gift for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), though it’s a politically hot one that she may want to keep the receipt for.

A small provision reverses a decision the Senate had earlier made to block funding for a “Hippie Museum,” as it became known, in Bethel, New York, near Woodstock. The bill doesn’t specifically earmark funds for the museum, but re-opens the possibility that it could be funded if a federal agency chose to.

The Bethel Performing Arts Center, if the omnibus bill passes as is, would get the green light. The provision is on Page 173.

Included in the omnibus is $1.95 Million for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at the City College of New York (Joint Explanatory Statement, Labor-H, p. 234).

Currently the City College of New York does not have a Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service. Its website shows 16 centers of study, none of which contain Rep. Rangel’s name. These funds would therefore go toward naming a center after Mr. Rangel at a future date, as well as an endowment, library, and archives.

The Alaska Sea Life Center will receive nearly $3.5 million in the bill. Additionally, Alaska will receive $235,000 for the SE Seiners Capacity Reduction Program, $117,500 for the Aleut Pacific Marine Resources Observers, $202,100 for the Alaska Sea Otter and Steller Sea Lion Commission, and $141,000 for the Alaska Native Harbor Seal Commission.

Department of the Interior – Joint Explanatory Statement, Page 12

National Marine Fisheries Service Operations, Research and Facilities Account

Congressman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Chairman of the Republican Study Committee, this morning issued the following statement after Democrats released a 3,565-page FY 2008 Omnibus Appropriations bill that is expected to be voted on later today. 

“An initial review of this 3500 plus page bill confirms that this legislation is a bad for deal for American taxpayers, American families and the fiscal future of our children.   Democrats squandered an opportunity to work together on a clean bill that is free of wasteful earmarks and budget gimmicks.   

“Just three years ago, then Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called the refusal to allow Members three days to read legislation before voting on it ‘martial law.’  Abandoning her word, Speaker Pelosi is now engaging in ‘martial law’ herself by trying to force a 3500 page bill containing 11 individual spending bills through Congress before anyone knows exactly what is in it.   

“We know that this bill contains over 8000 earmarks.  Those earmarks, combined with budget gimmicks that hide billions of dollars and other added-on spending ensure that the Democrats’ bill is well over the spending level requested by President Bush.   While providing additional funds for our veterans is important, that extra spending must be offset elsewhere in this trillion dollar budget…

The Congressional authors have posted the bill online in pdf format.  While the bill text itself is searchable, the conference reports — where nearly all earmarks are listed — is *not* searchable.  This raises concerns that the Appropriations committees are making it difficult for taxpayers to quickly identify and find certain earmarks.  Remember, both Congress and the White House have pledged to cut the number of pork projects in half–from the 2005 peak of 13,492 down to 6,746.  The Defense bill already enacted contained 2,161 earmarks (according to Taxpayers for Common Sense), meaning any more than 4,585 earmarks in the omnibus bill will put Congress over the limit and break their pledge. At first glance, it appears they easily break the pledge.

U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) made the following statement today regarding the release of the proposed 3,565-page Fiscal Year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations bill.

“Republicans were expecting something the President could sign with a straight face but this bill is completely unacceptable,” said Senator DeMint. “We’ve only had it for a few hours and it’s clear this is a bad deal. Instead of passing a clean bill, Democrats have packed it full of controversial policy riders, wasteful earmarks, and budget gimmicks that add billions in additional domestic spending over the President’s level.”

“I’m sure Democrats will try to ram this down our throats before anyone can read it, but we should do everything we can to stop them. I know many in Congress are anxious to get home for the holidays but we have a responsibility to stop wasteful Washington spending and protect American taxpayers,” said Senator DeMint.

After an initial review of the legislation, several wasteful and unnecessary provisions have already been identified:

· Earmarks: Instead of reducing the number of pork projects in the federal budget, the bill drives the number of earmarks up from last year. The bill contains over 8,000 earmarks, bringing the total for 2008 up to over 10,000 earmarks compared to just 2,658 in 2007.

· Spending Gimmicks: Instead of cutting wasteful spending out of the bill to bring its cost down to the President’s level, the bill uses budget tricks and gimmicks to hide at least $14 billion in extra domestic spending.

· Policy Riders: Instead of limiting the package to spending needed to fund government operations, the bill includes unrelated policy items. Many of these riders are backed by special interests, such as organized labor, and could not win passage on their own.