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Perception and Reality in Congressional Earmarks
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Michael H Crespin
Published/Copyright:
July 16, 2009
Earmarks added to appropriations bills have generated a considerable amount of attention from the media, politicians, and fiscal watchdog groups. Taken as a whole, three “truths" about earmarks are frequently discussed: 1) earmarks are the reason for large budget deficits, 2) using omnibus legislation instead of regular order leads to more earmarks, and 3) “airdropped" earmarks added at the conference stage compound the problem of pork. In this paper, we examine these “truths" and find the conventional wisdom does not stand up to empirical tests. Finally, we show how Congress easily worked around new rules concerning the addition of earmarks at the conference stage.
Published Online: 2009-7-16
©2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston
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Articles in the same Issue
- Introduction
- Introduction
- Article
- Perception and Reality in Congressional Earmarks
- Institutional Structure and Democratic Values: A Research Note on a Natural Experiment
- Even Closer, Even Longer: What If the 2008 Democratic Primary Used Republican Rules?
- How Barack Obama's Votes Beat Hillary Clinton's Votes in the 2008 Democratic Presidential Contest: Not Malapportionment, But Turnout Variation and the Florida Effect
- Campaign Microtargeting and the Relevance of the Televised Political Ad
- The Obama Effect: Patterns of Geographic Clustering in the 2004 and 2008 Presidential Elections
- U.S. Health Care and Real Health in Comparative Perspective: Lessons from Abroad
- Review
- Review of The Persuadable Voter: Wedge Issues in Presidential Campaigns
