DO YOU THINKS ITS RIGHT TO STEAL?

[C]

N.Y. lawmakers defend pet projects in federal bill
$410 billion measure near vote by Senate
By Brian Tumulty • Gannett Washington Bureau • March 6, 2009

WASHINGTON - New York state lawmakers are defending hundreds of special projects, which they inserted in a $410 billion spending bill, against criticisms that many of the projects would waste money.

The legislation, which passed the House last week, but was delayed by the Senate on Thursday, sets spending levels for most federal agencies for the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30.
The Democratic-controlled Congress postponed a vote on the bill last year to avoid a veto by former President George W. Bush.

The nonpartisan watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense estimates the bill contains 8,750 special projects - or earmarks - totaling $7.7 billion, or almost 2 percent of the discretionary spending called for to run most government agencies.

The earmarks include $190,000 for the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Wyoming, $469,000 for a fruit fly facility in Hawaii and $800,000 for oyster rehabilitation in Alabama, according to the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.

Heritage counts 9,287 earmarks totaling $12.8 billion.

New York earmarks listed by Heritage as questionable include $381,000 for the George Eastman House in Rochester, $17.5 million for the FDR Presidential Library renovation in Hyde Park, $2.19 million for the Center for Grape Genetics in Geneva, and $315,000 for music education at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

Heritage is "a right-wing operation" that criticizes projects without understanding their value, said Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-Hurley.

"Given the country's economic condition, it's essential that the earmarks be put in there," Hinchey said. "It's up to the Congress to determine how the money be spent."

Two other House Democrats - Reps. Nita Lowey of Harrison and Louise Slaughter of Fairport - said their projects would benefit the public.

Lowey noted that in 2003 and 2005, she secured $700,000 for the Westchester special operations task force, a group of first-responders who recently used trench rescue equipment purchased with a federal earmark to save the life of a construction worker in Eastchester.

Slaughter said earmarks she has secured for research projects at the University of Rochester helped create 33 companies.

"I've been very proud of what I have been able to bring back to the district," Slaughter said.
Gillibrand cites investments
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., called earmarks "federal investments that create jobs."

"And in this economic downturn, the most important thing I can do is get federal investment to New York state to create jobs, to improve our economy and to restart growth," she said.

Gillibrand, appointed to the Senate in late January, secured several earmarks last year as a House member representing the 20th Congressional District.

Taxpayers for Common Sense estimates that New York's senior senator, Democrat Charles E. Schumer, is the sole sponsor of 37 earmarks totaling $21.9 million in the spending bill. He co-sponsored another 172 earmarks totaling about $116 million, the group said.

Schumer ranks No. 1 in the Senate in the number of earmarks he inserted into the bill, and Mississippi Republican Sen. Thad Cochran ranks No. 1 in terms of dollar value, with $470.8 million in projects.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona, a former GOP presidential candidate, has chastised his colleagues from both parties for supporting the earmarks. McCain, who had promised to veto all earmarks if elected president, also has criticized the White House for not vowing to veto the fiscal 2009 spending bill.

President Barack Obama promised during last year's presidential campaign to reform the earmarks process, but the administration has declined to criticize the 2009 spending bill, saying it's legislation left over from last year.

That has irked McCain, who pointed out Thursday that the bill won't be signed by last year's president.

"It will be signed by this year's president when it should be vetoed by this year's president," McCain said.

Schumer notes reforms
Schumer said Democrats have reformed the earmarks process over the past year by requiring lawmakers who sponsor projects to sign letters posted on the Internet saying they have no personal financial stake in the projects.

"There are good earmarks and bad earmarks," Schumer said, noting that the recent reforms would have prevented "notorious" ones from getting approved.

He defended New York projects singled out by the Heritage Foundation.

The money for the Center for Grape Genetics goes to Cornell University to produce disease-resistant strains of grapes for New York farmers who grow grapes for use in wine and grape juice.

"It is a totally, totally above-board project for a nonprofit university to help improve one of our most important products," Schumer said.

The money for the FDR presidential library also has merit, he said.

"The whole Dutchess County community came to me and said Roosevelt's papers and all his findings are being waterlogged," he said. "Don't you think we should preserve the papers of a famous man like Franklin Roosevelt? Aside from it being a tourist attraction."




2009-13, The Most Unethical Administration in US History.


News