Obama's Broken Promise: Earmarks

I'm sure you've heard this: Obama lied, the economy died.

The economy is not dead but Obama did lie, and his lies have a lot to do with the way people are reacting to what they believe lies ahead for them economically.

Obama flat-out lied about earmarks.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Despite campaign promises to take a machete to lawmakers' pet projects, President Barack Obama is quietly caving to funding nearly 8,000 of them this year, drawing a stern rebuke Monday from his Republican challenger in last fall's election.

Arizona Sen. John McCain said it is "insulting to the American people" for Obama's budget director to indicate over the weekend that the president will sign a $410 billion spending bill with what Republicans critics say is nearly $5.5 billion in so-called "earmark" projects.

"So much for the promise of change," McCain said in this year's version of what has become his annual tirade against pork-barrel spending.

Democrats contend that earmarked pet projects total only $3.8 billion, less the 1 percent of the amount Congress is approving to finance government programs through September—compared with the 1.3 percent that Republicans call pork spending.

White House Budget Director Peter Orsazg said Sunday that the new administration wants to "move on ... get this bill done, get it into law and move forward." Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, called the bill and its 8 percent spending increase over 2008 "last year's business."

Obama is hardly the first president to promise to make Congress change its pork-barreling ways, and he certainly won't be the last. But he is the first to retreat so quickly, after only six weeks in the White House. Only a week ago, Obama was pressing Democratic leaders in Congress to pare back the earmarks.

I'm glad John McCain is calling out Obama for his failure to deliver on promises made during the campaign.

Without a doubt, Obama has broken his "no earmarks" campaign pledge. The guy doesn't even have the decency to call an earmark an earmark. Just because Obama says his so-called stimulus is free of earmarks does not make it so. And as far as the spending bill goes, Obama is apparently cutting himself a lot of slack.

From Obama's address to the nation, February 24, 2009:

I'm proud that we passed the recovery plan free of earmarks, and I want to pass a budget next year that ensures that each dollar we spend reflects only our most important national priorities.

Translation: About that "no earmarks" pledge... Never mind.