Bush demands cut on pet projects
Published 10:32 pm Tuesday, January 29, 2008
WASHINGTON — President Bush signed an order Tuesday to crack down on pork barrel practices in Congress, promising to veto any spending bill that doesn’t cut the number and cost of congressional pet projects in half.
The executive order directs federal agencies to ignore “earmarks” that aren’t explicitly enacted into law, erasing a common practice in which lawmakers’ projects are outlined in nonbinding documents that accompany legislation.
“That means that these projects never were voted on, never really saw the light of day,” Bush said.
Bush, however, has disappointed some conservatives by backing away from a veiled threat issued last month in which he seemed to suggest he would kill some or all of the thousands of earmarks contained in last year’s huge omnibus appropriations bill. His order does not apply to those earmarks.
Bush’s moves won’t have an effect until Congress starts advancing an upcoming round of appropriations bills this spring and summer. Even then, many Congress-watchers think Democrats won’t send him spending bills, instead waiting in case a Democrat is elected in November.
However, Bush’s plan to kill or dramatically cut scores of federal programs to save $18 billion is likely to be shrugged off in Congress, which has rejected such cuts year after year, regardless of which party is in control on Capitol Hill. Bush’s roster of budget cuts — including many accounts heavy with earmarks — is invariably dead on arrival.
That hasn’t stopped Bush, who has a roster of 151 programs to kill or cut back when he submits his budget on Monday. The $18 billion in savings is 50 percent more than last year’s list.
This will be the fourth consecutive year that Bush has sent a roster of program terminations and cuts to Capitol Hill. He had greatest success when Republicans controlling Congress accepted $6.5 billion worth of cuts, including grants for drug-free school programs, literacy programs and grants to local law enforcement agencies.
