I think if there is anything you can glean from this Blog is that I believe Americans are fed up with having a government that spends too much of their tax dollars behind closed doors and in secrecy. If an earmark is worthy of one cent of taxpayer money, it must be able to withstand public scrutiny.
Republicans are circulating a petition that would force House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to allow all earmarks to be publicly disclosed and debated. The petition requires 218 signatures, in order to succeed; the support of fiscally responsible House Democrats is needed.
So far 193 Members have signed on. Unfortunately, after Democrats won the majority by campaigning on the promise of more transparency in Congress, there hasn’t been one Democrat to add their name to the petition as of now.
Disclosure alone will not solve the earmark problem. But it’s a start, and Democrats refuse to even do that.