It All Comes Back to Strength of Government

The pork-barrel debacle described in Chapters 27 and 28 of The Enduring Debate is really just one small facet of a much larger debate that has been argued ever since the Constitutional Convention sat down to create a new American government. It is the debate between a stronger central government and a weaker one, the difference between Federalists and Anti-Federalists, and, according to Jonathan Cohn, the source of the earmark dispute. He claims that the add-ons are necessary and serve a positive purpose: they allow the state senators and representatives to check the federal government's power by giving them a way to procure funds for their districts without the approval of the President. This debate continues today in the argument over the recently passed Bailout Bill.

In Chapter 27, Sean Page argues that most earmarks range from "the trivial...to the ludicrous," (1) and should be removed from the bailout bill. The spending bill includes several items like this, including "$238,000 for the Polynesian Voyaging Society in Hawaii" and "nearly $1.8 million for pig odor research in Iowa". (2) Paige would argue that these wasteful amendments do not belong in the bill and should not have been passed by Congress.

In Chapter 28, Jonathan Cohn makes the point that earmarks are a vital part of the legislative process and should not be criticized. Politics is a seriese of tadeoffs, and if you want to get an important bill passed, you have to be willing to accept the sausage filler that comes with it. He would argue that the included "$950,000 for a convention center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina" and "$143,000 for a natural history museum in Las Vegas" (2) were necessary projects added in order to gain the required number of votes for the bill. Also, Cohn would point out that these projects are serving important roles in their communities by providing jobs and helping to stimulate the economy, which after all, is the whole point of the bill.

1. The Enduring Debate (Fourth Edition)

2. http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/05/obama.pork/index.html?iref=newssearch