RT @dmataconis: Dear Paul Ryan: Earmarks account for 0.01% of the budget and eliminating them won’t cut one bit of spending. Let’s talk real spending cuts
RT @dmataconis: Dear Paul Ryan: Earmarks account for 0.01% of the budget and eliminating them won’t cut one bit of spending. Let’s talk real spending cuts
These kinds of remarks are incredibly annoying. For one, regardless of budget size, earmarks are NOT the way legislation and appropriations were intended to be passed, and Boehner & co. are absolutely right to see them as a key linchpin fostering disgust and distrust w/ Congress.
Second, the fact that, despite the billions spent on earmarks , they only constitute constitute .01% of the budget and not 1% of the budget doesn’t mean the amount spent on earmarks is insignificant, it means the amount spent on everything else is WAY TOO EFFING MUCH!
Word to dmataconis et al: Pick the low-hanging fruit first. If we can’t change Congress to reform on earmarks, how the hell are we going to fix anything else?