www.politico.com
Republicans are planning another yearlong campaign to shame Democrats for failing to kill the practice of earmarking money for pet projects.
But there are two big problems with the strategy, according to nonpartisan experts who track spending. Democrats last year actually approved fewer earmarks than Republicans did when they ran Congress.
And many Republicans remain very supportive of the controversial spending practice.
The numbers speak for themselves.
Congress did pass more than 11,000 earmarks last year at a cost north of $15 billion, according to data compiled by Taxpayers for Common Sense, a budget watchdog group.
Roughly 40 percent of that money was set aside for projects requested by Republicans, essentially the same amount that has gone to the minority party in most years.
Democrats claim the total number of earmarks is down 44 percent when compared with the Republican-controlled Congress in 2006.
That number is misleading, however, because it does not represent what was actually signed into law.
The actual reduction is much closer to 25 percent, says Steve Ellis of TCS.
There is no doubt Democrats fell short of their campaign promise to end the practice, but they can rightly claim some progress. ..........
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