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Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Earmark transparency: What a good idea!

On the campaign trail, Republicans Lynn Jenkins and Jim Ryun are misleading voters. They say the earmark process needs to be brought out into the open, and then the say the way to do that is to beat Nancy Boyda. What they neglect to tell the voters is that Nancy Boyda has been one of the trailblazers in that very endeavor.

Rep. Boyda yesterday released (for the second year in a row) her list of earmark requests, not just the projects that make it into law, but every single earmark she has requested or will request in the future.

Jenkins likes to say "We need to bring the earmark process out of the dark of night" and "We need to bring the process out of Washington's smoke-filled rooms." Well Lynn, we here at LBK couldn't agree more. But see, Nancy Boyda has already done that, not just promised to do so.

Jim Ryun, apparently without recognizing the irony, announced that he'll never seek another earmark. "Hi. My name is Jim Ryun, and I'm addicted to earmarks." That's not the answer either, as there are many of these funding projects that are perfectly legitimate and actually help people in the 2nd district.
"I am joining the earmark reform movement in Washington and will work to repair an obviously broken system," Ryun said. "The earmark crisis is out of control."
See this post at Boyda Bloc for analysis on how it got out of control.

But Rep. Boyda's leadership is more than just a link on a website, Rep. Boyda voted for a moratorium on earmarks until a meaningful overhaul of the system can be accomplished.

So how do we fix a broken earmark system? Re-elect Nancy Boyda.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

you know, earmarks aren't bad...secret earmarks are bad and wasteful earmarks are bad. it's pretty obvious boyda's aren't secret (obvious enough even for republicans...) and I guess we can quibble about whether or not they're wasteful...but I don't think saving lives or providing clean drinking water is a waste- ever.

Anonymous said...

this is such a great post!

Anonymous said...

Did she make transparent the kickbacks she got for the earmarks? The political quid pro quo she is getting for those earmarks?

Anonymous said...

As was stated on BoydaBloc, her campaign contributions are a matter of public record, so if such "kickbacks" existed, then yes, they would be transparent.

Anonymous said...

why do republicans have to be dumb?

Anonymous said...

The issue regarding earmarks is a very difficult issue. Campaigning in 2006, I reported how poorly KS (ranked 44th in federal appropriations) was losing out on a fair share of federal appropriations that should be consistent with our rank in population (34th). The first poster here probably has done a good analysis. Earmarks of themselves are not bad-wasteful and unnecessary earmarks are bad.

Regardless, all of our KS DC politicians are doing a terrible job in bringing appropriations equal to our state population.

You, the voter needs to demand your elected rep and Senator ensure KS gets appropriate federal appropriations that are not bad, secret or wasted. A lot of the earmarks are automatic. A lot of our politicans will claim credit for some of these appropriations. From my involvement, most of our elected are merely focused on spending most of their time campaigning instead of representing us and KS in Washington. To which common sense tells me we need new federal representation across the board. Throw some of these people out of elected office. It is your right to get adequate representation-too badly lately these yahoos in Washington are forgetting what state they are from.

Tom Scherer,
Candidate, US Congress

Anonymous said...

This web site gives details and rankings and earmarks on each member of the Senate/HR, committee memberships, bills sponsored etceteras. Various filters.

www.congress.org/congressorg/power_rankings

If you want facts regarding earmarks and power rankings,this is good web site to add to your favorites.

ts