Senate Earmarks

Here is a list of Senate earmarks.  If your Senator has taken out earmarks please call them and demand that they drop their corrupt practice.

Cochran (R-MS) 230

Wicker (R-MS) 199
Murray (D-WA) 172
Harkin (D-IA) 152
Reid (D-NV) 129
Menendez (D-NJ) 123
Feinstein (D-CA) 121
Lautenberg (D-NJ) 120
Lincoln (D-AR) 114
Inouye (D-HI) 113
Schumer (D-NY) 106
Johnson (D-SD) 105
Landrieu (D-LA) 104
Specter (D-PA) 103
Pryor (D-AR) 96
Levin (D-MI) 93
Stabenow (D-MI) 91
Boxer (D-CA) 90
Brown (D-OH) 87
Grassley (R-IA) 86 -hypocrit signed the anti-earmark pledge
Bingaman (D-NM) 86
Durbin (D-IL) 86
Akaka (D-HI) 83
Wyden (D-OR) 83
Cardin (D-MD) 79 - this one is mine...he's up for reelection in 2012...we'll rememer this you corrupt...
Merkley (D-OR) 79
Gillibrand (D-NY) 79
Bond (R-MO) 78  -  another hypocrit
Bennett (R-UT) 76 -  paying off his supporters...this is why he was voted out.
Casey (D-PA) 76
Udall (D-NM) 73
Reed (D-RI) 70
Kerry (D-MA) 69
Cantwell (D-WA) 69
Hagan (D-NC) 69
Voinovich (R-OH) 68 - retiring corrupt politician
Klobuchar (D-MN) 68
Rockefeller (D-WV) 67
Dodd (D-CT) 66
Mikulski (D-MD) 65 -  my senator, she campaigned as a fiscal conservative who saved US money...right
Tester (D-MT) 65
Lieberman (ID-CT) 64
Hutchison (R-TX) 63 -  she's up for reelection soon...we'll remember this one.
Burr (R-NC) 63 -  The North Carolina Tea Party needs to have a chat wit this one...
Baucus (D-MT) 62
Dorgan (D-ND) 60
Warner (D-VA) 60
Webb (D-VA) 58
Franken (D-MN) 58
Collins (R-ME) 57  - Ms. Collins is up for reelection in 2012, if I'm not mistaken.
Leahy (D-VT) 56
Murkowski (R-AK) 55  - This woman was rejected by her party...but believes she too important...
Whitehouse (D-RI) 55
Kohl (D-WI) 54
Conrad (D-ND) 52
Vitter (R-LA) 48 -  Mr. Vitter, we need to have a chat.
Cornyn (R-TX) 45 - ditto
Snowe (R-ME) 44 - ditto
Nelson (D-FL) 43 - he's up for reelection in 2 years
Chambliss (R-GA) 42
Crapo (R-ID) 41 - hypocrit
Risch (R-ID) 41 -  ditto
Bennet (D-CO) 40
Brownback (R-KS) 39 -  he's not in Kansas any more...and perhaps he should be, permanently
Carper (D-DE) 39
Begich (D-AK) 37
McConnell (R-KY) 35  -  Mr. McConnell is part of the problem and not part of the solution
Roberts (R-KS) 35 - ditto
Sanders (I-VT) 33
Shelby (R-AL) 32 - Addicted to earmarks
Inhofe (R-OK) 32 -  not serious about ending corruption in our political system.
Shaheen (D-NH) 32
Alexander (R-TN) 30  -  Mr. Alexander is another one who isn't part of the solution...and needs to go.
Udall (D-CO) 30
Lugar (R-IN) 29 -  time to retire this one.
Graham (R-SC) 27 -  RINO who needs to have a serious primary challenge in 2012.
Thune (R-SD) 26 -  needs primary challenge.
Isakson (R-GA) 24 - ditto
Nelson (D-NE) 23
Sessions (R-AL) 21 -  ditto
Bunning (R-KY) 21 - ditto
Ensign (R-NV) 20 - ditto
Gregg (R-NH) 13 -  ditto
Barrasso (R-WY) 4 - ditto
Enzi (R-WY) 3 - ditto
Hatch (R-UT) 1 - ditto, though he's going in the right direction....though 1 earmark is 1 too many
Bayh (D-IN) 1 -  ditto
Corker (R-TN) 1 -  ditto
Brown (R-MA) 1 - ditto
McCain (R-AZ) 0 -  these are where the GOP needs to be.  the zero earmark zone
Feingold (D-WI) 0
Kyl (R-AZ) 0
DeMint (R-SC) 0
Coburn (R-OK) 0
McCaskill (D-MO) 0 - though she's now afraid after her Dem colleague was slaughtered at the polls...
Johanns (R-NE) 0
LeMieux (R-FL) 0
Manchin (D-WV) 0 -  he's up for reelection for a full term in 2012...he barely won this time around...
Coons (D-DE) 0 -  he's not had enough time to begin his corruption...
Kirk (R-IL) 0

While the $8 billion dollar price tag of these earmarks is literally a drop in the bucket compared to the $1,200,000,000,000.00 Senate/Congressional Omnibus spending bill, it's not Congress' money they're spending it's our money they are using to pay off corrupt supporters who have bought their votes. That's the issue here. These earmarking Senators are bought and paid for and this is how they pay off their campaign donations by wasting your money on earmarks
These are some of the "pressing issues" our corrupt politicians are wasting our money on...during the most acute recession since the great depression, 70 years ago...Call your senators and congressmen and voice your opinion, they obviously didn't pay attention to last month's election results.


H/T Jamiewearingfool

UPDATE: via Jamie Dupree's Washington Insider, here are links to the earmarks themselves: 

EARMARKS PART 1 - How about a 98 page list of earmarks for Labor & Health programs? http://is.gd/iKI18



EARMARKS PART 2 - Then there is the 90 page list of Transportation & Housing earmarks http://is.gd/iKIgU

EARMARKS PART 3 - There is the short four page list for Military Construction http://is.gd/iKIoq

EARMARKS PART 4 - Here is the 16 page list of earmarks for Interior/Environment programs http://is.gd/iKIt2

EARMARKS PART 5 - Check out the 3 pages of Homeland Security earmarks from FEMA, etc http://is.gd/iKIAQ

EARMARKS PART 6 - And add in the 11 pages of earmarks for Agricultural programs (pdf) http://is.gd/iKIIW

EARMARKS PART 7 - Also the five pages of earmarks in the Financial Services bill (pdf) http://is.gd/iKIRb

EARMARKS PART 8 - And there are 29 pages of earmarks from Commerce/State/Justice programs http://is.gd/iKJ4X

EARMARKS PART 9 - And don't forget the 23 pages of Energy & Water project earmarks http://is.gd/iKJiU

Mr. Dupree comments,

When you take a long look at those earmark numbers, you can see that more Democrats are up on the high end in terms of earmarks, with a lot more Republicans down here on the low end of the scale. The projects include the usual smattering of things that make some lawmakers go nuts, like $300,000 for the Polynesian Voyaging Society. "I'm not making it up," said Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who again took to the floor on Tuesday to denounce the thousand of earmarks in this bill from both parties."The American people said just 42 days ago, 'Enough!'" said McCain. "Are we tone deaf? Are we stricken with amnesia?"

That there are any Republicans at all is damn near criminal.  Here's what America voted against and these bastards have utterly forgotten the lesson.  It's time to toss all  the rat bastards out.

GOP 8 Who Voted Against Emark Ban In US Senate

Here are the GOP 8 who voted against banning earmarks in the US Senate: 

Sens. Thad Cochran (Miss.), Susan Collins (Maine), James Inhofe (Okla.), Dick Lugar (Ind.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Richard Shelby (Ala.) voted against an amendment to food-safety legislation that would have enacted a two-year ban on the spending items. Retiring Sen. George Voinovich (Ohio) and defeated Sen. Bob Bennett (Utah) also voted against it.

Two can't be held accountable for those votes.  But six can be.  I suspect that they will be defeated by Tea Party movement candidates who will rightly point to this vote as to why they are unfit to serve in the US Senate.  The attempt to ban earmarks for the entire Senate failed by a vote of 39-56.  

Mrs. Murkowski of Alaska lost her GOP primary and seems to be winning the write in vote...and is still considered to be a Republican?  She, having flouted the will of her party's voters in the primary, should be tossed out of the GOP in the Senate.  She should lose her seniority and have to start all over again...

Susan Collins of Maine, Thad Cochran (Miss.) and  Richard Shelby (Ala.) aren't up for reelection until 2014...I guess she hopes  that her state doesn't have a long memory.   James Inhofe (Okla.) and Dick Lugar (Ind.) are up for reelection in 2012, of course, there's Murkowski who, if she wins this time around will be back up for reelection 2016, which time I hope the state of Alaska kicks her corrupt ass out of office.

McConnell Gives In On Earmarks...

A little bit ago,  Mitch McConnell, the leader of the GOP minority in the Senate entered the Senate chamber and gave the following speech.

I have seen a lot of elections in my life, but I have never seen an election like the one we had earlier this month. The 2010 midterm election was a “change” election the likes of which I have never seen, and the change that people want, above all, is right here in Washington.

Most Americans are deeply unhappy with their government, more so than at any other time in decades. And after the way lawmakers have done business up here over the last couple of years, it’s easy to see why. But it’s not enough to point out the faults of the party in power. Americans want change, not mere criticism. And that means that all of us in Washington need to get serious about changing the way we do business, even on things we have defended in the past, perhaps for good reason.

If the voters express themselves clearly and unequivocally on an issue, it’s not enough to persist in doing the opposite on the grounds that “that’s the way we’ve always done it.” That’s what elections are all about, after all. And if this election has shown us anything, it’s that Americans know the difference between talking about change, and actually delivering on it.

Bringing about real change is hard work. It requires elected officials — whether they’re in their first week or their 50th year in office — to challenge others and, above all, to challenge themselves to do things differently from time to time, to question, and then to actually shake up the status quo in pursuit of a goal or a vision that the voters have set for the good of our country.

I have thought about these things long and hard over the past few weeks. I’ve talked with my members. I’ve listened to them. Above all, I have listened to my constituents. And what I’ve concluded is that on the issue of congressional earmarks, as the leader of my party in the Senate, I have to lead first by example. Nearly every day that the Senate’s been in session for the past two years, I have come down to this spot and said that Democrats are ignoring the wishes of the American people. When it comes to earmarks, I won’t be guilty of the same thing.

Make no mistake. I know the good that has come from the projects I have helped support throughout my state. I don’t apologize for them. But there is simply no doubt that the abuse of this practice has caused Americans to view it as a symbol of the waste and the out-of-control spending that every Republican in Washington is determined to fight. And unless people like me show the American people that we’re willing to follow through on small or even symbolic things, we risk losing them on our broader efforts to cut spending and rein in government.

That’s why today I am announcing that I will join the Republican Leadership in the House in support of a moratorium on earmarks in the 112th Congress.

Over the years, I have seen presidents of both parties seek to acquire total discretion over appropriations. And I’ve seen presidents of both parties waste more taxpayer dollars on meritless projects, commissions, and programs than every congressional earmark put together. Look no further than the Stimulus, which Congress passed without any earmarks only to have the current administration load it up with earmarks for everything from turtle tunnels to tennis courts.

Contrast this with truly vital projects I have supported back home in Kentucky, such as the work we’ve done in relation to the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Western Kentucky.

Here was a facility at which workers, for years, were unaware of the dangers that the uranium at the plant posed to their health or how to safely dispose of the hazardous materials that were used there. Thanks to an expose about the plant in the 90s by the “Washington Post”, the danger was made known and I set about forcing the government to put a cleanup plan in place and to treat the people who had worked there. Through the earmark process, we were able to force reluctant administrations of both parties to do what was needed to clean up this site and to screen the people who had worked there for cancer. These screenings saved lives, and they would not have happened if Congress had not directed the funds to pay for them.

Another success story is the Bluegrass Army Depot, which houses some of the deadliest materials and chemical weapons on earth. As a nation we had decided that we would not use the kind of weapons that were stored at this site; and yet the federal government was slow to follow through on safely dismantling and removing them, even after we’d signed an international treaty that required it. But thanks to congressional appropriations we are on the way to destroying the chemical weapons at this site safely and thus protect the community that surrounds it.

Administrations of both parties have failed to see the full merit in either of these projects, which is one of the reasons I have been reluctant to cede responsibility for continuing the good work that is being done on them and on others to the Executive Branch.

So I’m not wild about turning over more spending authority to the executive branch, but I have come to share the view of most Americans that our nation is at a crossroads; that we will not be able to secure the kind of future we want for our children and grandchildren unless we act, and act quickly; and that only way we will be able to turn the corner and save our future is if elected leaders like me make the kinds of difficult decisions voters are clearly asking us to make.

Republicans in and out of Washington have argued strenuously for two years that spending and debt are at crisis levels. And we have demonstrated our seriousness about cutting spending and reining in government. Every Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, for instance, voted against every appropriations bill in committee this year because they simply cost too much. Most included funding for projects in our home states. We voted against them anyway.

Banning earmarks is another small but important symbolic step we can take to show that we’re serious, another step on the way to serious and sustained cuts in spending and to the debt.

Earlier this month voters across the country said they are counting on Republicans to make tough decisions. They gave us a second chance. With this decision, I’m telling them that they were right to put their trust in us. And it’s my fervent hope that it will help demonstrate to the American people in some way just how serious Republicans are about not letting them down.

Republican Leaders in the House and Senate are now united on this issue, united in hearing what the voters have been telling us for two years — and acting on it.

This is no small thing. Old habits aren’t easy to break, but sometimes they must be. And now is such a time. With a $14 trillion debt and an administration that talks about cost-cutting, but then sends over a budget that triples the national debt in 10 years and creates a massive new entitlement program, it’s time for some of us in Washington to show in every way possible that we mean what we say about spending.

With Republican leaders in Congress united, the attention now turns to the President. We have said we are willing to give up discretion; now we’ll see how he handles spending decisions. And if the president ends up with total discretion over spending, we will see even more clearly where his priorities lie. We already saw the administration’s priorities in a Stimulus bill that’s become synonymous with wasteful spending, that borrowed nearly $1 trillion for administration earmarks like turtle tunnels, a sidewalk that lead to a ditch, and research on voter perceptions of the bill.

Congressional Republicans uncovered much of this waste. Through congressional oversight, we will continue to monitor how the money taxpayers send to the administration is actually spent. It’s now up to the President and his party leaders in Congress to show their own seriousness on this issue, to say whether they will join Republican leaders in this effort and then, after that, in significantly reducing the size and cost and reach of government. The people have spoken. They have said as clearly as they can that this is what they want us to do.

They will be watching.

Yes, Mr. McConnell we will be watching.  Mr. McConnell wants very much to be Majority Leader in 2012...but he wants even less a hard primary campaign which would leave him vulnerable to a loss...because the people of this country really are pissed at the irresponsibility of Congress in their spending habits.  But, when it's all said and done...it's our fault for allowing them to do so...by continually re-electing them to office. 

Yes, Mr. McConnell we will be watching everything you in Congress do over the next two years...the Tea Party movement isn't going to go away any time soon.  The grown up are going to take back control of Congress from the irresponsible children who have over the past 100 years, but even more so in the past 30 years, driven us into a ditch and nearly off of the cliff.

via Instapundit

Earmarks: An Open Letter To Mitch McConnell

Politico.com is reporting that Senator Mitch McConnell is walking back on the moritorium on Earmarks. 

The incoming House speaker, Ohio Republican Rep. John Boehner, has long opposed lawmakers’ tendency to include earmarks for parochial projects in annual spending bills, and wants to end the practice. South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, the party purist who helped elect a handful of conservative tea party-backed candidates Tuesday, has vowed to offer an earmark moratorium during the next Senate Republican Conference meeting on Nov. 16.

...
On Thursday, McConnell, who has secured $113 million in earmarks this past year, declined to say whether he’d support DeMint’s moratorium.

Dear Mr. McConnell
I'm not going to give you a title, because I'm a republican (small "r", and this isn't a monarchy, Senator is your job, not a lifelong title).  You have no idea how close you are to losing the support that the GOP has gained.  Your party didn't win control of the House of Representatives because America now loves the GOP more than the Democrats...it's because the GOP sucks just a little bit less.  If you don't support Jim DeMint on this you will single-handedly squander the chance to gain control of the US Senate in 2012 and begin the real work of rolling back the mess that Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama and Harry Reid have made in the past 2-4 years.

Not only that, but you will show, by continuing the corrupt practices that have nearly bankrupted this country that the GOP isn't serious about fiscal conservatism.  The GOP has, literally, a once in a generation chance to roll back both the size of government but how intrusive that government is.  You will blow this by not being serious on being fiscally responsible.  Certainly earmarks, when considered against the size of currents budgets, are rather small percentage of that budget...but it's not your money you are spending on your pet projects.  It's my money, it's my neighbor's money, the the guy's down the street. 

Statments like this:

“As I think all of you know, you can eliminate every congressional earmark and save no money,” the Republican leader said. “It’s really an argument about discretion.”

 are why I question just how serious you are.  You sir, may very well be part of the problem in Washington and not part of the solution.  Think about that.  America repudiated the policies of the Democratic Party on Tuesday.  If you continue with "business as usual" or "going along to get along" you will show that your party isn't sincere about BEING fiscally conservative.  America doesn't really trust the GOP, your party just "sucks a little less" than the other one. 

If you don't support this measure, you will prove that America's trust was misplaced.  If that is in fact the case, the GOP will be swept away in a tidal wave that makes this past election look...like a small ripple in puddle.

Rich Vail
Pikesville, MD

The Earmark Transparency Act of 2010

In his State of the Union address in January, Barack Obama, urged Congress to pass legislation that publishes all earmarks prior to being passed by Congress "publish all earmark requests on a single Web site before there's a vote so that the American people can see how their money is being spent." Finally, a bill has been introduced that would force Congress to do just that.  The Earmark Transparency Act of 2010 would do just that. 

the ETA would require Congress to do just what Obama suggested by establishing a publicly available database with key details about all proposed earmarks, including the congressional sponsor, the sponsor's letter requesting the earmark and all supporting documents, identity of the recipient, the amount proposed, the purpose of the earmark, the amount approved in committee and the final amount approved by Congress.

Personally, I think that a better act would be one that prohibits earmarks at all.  Earmarks are a corrupt version of reverse political bribery in which Senators and Congressmen give money to constituents outside of the normal budgetary process.  They also have the end result of producing "campaign contributions" or other financial kickbacks.  The Congressman from West Virginia who recenlty lost his primary election and his father made their family very wealthy through this process...as have many, many others over the years.  Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, 

who has long called earmarks the "gateway drug to federal spending addiction," says the ETA is an essential reform because Americans "want the practice of trading votes for earmarks to end and they want the process of trading campaign dollars for earmarks to end. From Bridges to Nowhere to the Cornhusker Kickback, Americans are tired of Washington using hard-earned taxpayer funding on items that fall short of urgent national priorities, and they want to lift the shroud of secrecy over how spending decisions are made."

It's time to end this game now, not just make it public.  Congress should amend this act to ban the process completely.