Congressional conservatives have waged a high-profile war on earmarks this year, only to be undermined by conservatives who enjoy their pet projects. Today, Citizens Against Government Waste released their 2008 Pig Book, a database of earmarks used in the 110th Congress. The top earmarkers? Republicans:
In the House, Republicans have attacked Democratic Rep. John Murtha for delivering a pile of special-interest funds to his western Pennsylvania district.
But according to the report, two House Republicans bested Murtha: Roger Wicker of Mississippi, who recently became a U.S. senator, and Rep. Bill Young of Florida. The two scored $176.3 million and $169.5 million in earmarks respectively, beating Murtha’s $159.1 million.
In the Senate, the top three big spenders were Republicans, who together scored about $1.8 billion in home-state projects. Those senators are: Thad Cochran, the senior Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Richard Shelby of Alabama, and Ted Stevens of Alaska
In addition, the three House Republicans sponsoring legislation calling for a moratorium all engaged in the practice.
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Clinton helped lock down more than $340 million in earmarks for her home state of New York in last year’s spending bills, placing her in the top tier of Senate recipients for the type of localized federal spending against which McCain claims to be a crusader. By comparison, the article said Obama recorded $91 million in earmarks.
McCain was one of just five senators who rejected all earmarks.
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/02/14/mccain-strikes-anew-at-obama-cal...