Democrats Ignore Their Own Earmark Rules, Hide Pork Project in "No Energy" Bill

This just in...

We already know that the Majority’s “no energy” plan – which is being debated on the House floor right now – fails to lower gas prices or increase energy production right here at home. And we’ve also learned that the measure gives tax breaks to Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez.

But wait…it gets even worse.

In crafting today’s “no energy” plan, Democratic leaders ignored their own earmark rules to reward a powerful committee chairman with billions in taxpayer-funded pork. Here are the details: Buried deep in the Majority’s “no energy” bill is a $2 billion tax credit earmarked solely to build a rail line from New York ’s JFK Airport to lower Manhattan .

The Joint Tax Committee, in a memo to Senate leaders last fall, said it “unquestionably has the economic effect of an appropriation: money otherwise due to the U.S. Treasury will, by virtue of this provision, effectively fund (in light of the fungibility of money) a specific expenditure.” In other words, it’s an earmark. And who asked for it to be included in today’s “no energy” bill? None other than the powerful chair of the Ways and Means Committee, New York ’s Charlie Rangel (D-NY).

It’s not surprising that House Democrats have flip-flopped on earmarks – and it certainly isn’t the first time. In fact, the Democratic Majority has been working furiously for the past few weeks to take down a webpage – http://earmarkreform.house.gov – launched by House Republicans to expose precisely the type of earmark rules violations House Democrats have committed on the “no energy” bill…after it explicitly approved the website last summer! In other words, the Majority changed the rules…on earmarks…again. Roll Call has the details:

“House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) is refusing to take down a Web site promoting the GOP’s earmark reform efforts, defying a directive from Chief Administrative Officer Dan Beard to move the site to a new domain name.”

“The Republican leader will not comply until he receives a response to a letter he sent Beard on Thursday protesting the decision and requesting further details as to why the site must be taken down, a spokesman said…”

“The CAO’s House Information Resources office authorized the use of the domain name in August 2007.”

The unprecedented attempt to kill the House Republicans’ earmark reform website comes at an awfully convenient time for the Majority. Earlier this month, The Hill published an article titled “Dem Leaders Shower Pork on Freshmen,” which detailed the tens of millions of taxpayer dollars handed-out to freshmen Democratic Members. And tonight, the Citizens Against Government Waste’s “Porker of the Year,” Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), chair of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, is hosting a $1,500 per person dinner for his top earmark recipients. This morning’s Examiner explains:

“Rep. John Murtha is hosting a gala dinner tonight at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Pentagon City for defense industry lobbyists who have received and who hope to receive millions of tax dollars via earmarks sponsored by the Pennsylvania Democrat.”

The GOP’s earmark reform website has already received 14,000 visits – including 7,000 in the last day alone. And with continual earmark shenanigans like we’re seeing today with the “no energy” bill and Chairman Murtha’s pork dinner, this website is likely to stay busy. So, it’s no wonder the Democratic Majority wants to censor it.

Democrats entered into the Majority last year promising to change the way Congress spends taxpayers’ money. But their actions have spoken much louder than their words.

· They have voted against a GOP proposed earmark freeze and rejected calls from Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) for the same reforms.

· They have ignored their own earmark rules in drafting the “no energy” bill and scores of other measures over the past year.

· Rep. Murtha will unabashedly rake in scores of checks this evening from those who have directly benefited from his addiction to pork.

· And they’ve tried to censor the GOP-led website to keep tabs on all of this.

Instead of trying to silence GOP reform efforts, House Democrats should work with Republicans to ensure that Americans’ hard-earned taxpayer dollars don’t go to waste. That starts with stripping Chairman Rangel’s pork-barrel project out of today’s “no energy” bill and finally joining House Republicans in supporting a moratorium on all earmarks.