Earmarks & Appropriations

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• Important Cuts Fail & Wasteful Subsidies Hang On in House Energy & Water Bill

  Several amendments were offered to stop wasteful subsidies. Instead of exercising fiscal responsibility, Congress chose to keep the pork...

  
• TCS Testifies Before House Oversight and Government Reform Committee

  Highlighting several areas for the committee to explore as we work to ensure that our precious tax dollars are being spent wisely...

  
• Reports & Data

  Sandy Supplemental Analysis

  Congress can't churn out a wasteful $60 billion emergency supplemental stuffed with non-emergency funding....

  
• Earmarks and Earmarking: Frequently Asked Questions

  Rumors of the death of earmarks are premature. Earmarks continue to significantly impact management of taxpayer dollars....

  

Congressional earmarks are one of the best examples of how Congress’ appetite for parochial spending led the nation into our current budgetary hole. Too often, lawmakers have based federal spending decisions on the needs of narrow private interests, rather than appropriating funds...More

only for effective, efficient programs that deliver taxpayers the greatest value. Though technically banned, earmark spending still exists in different forms, and is just one of many ways Congress sidesteps responsible budgeting and spending.

Although Congress is responsible for our nation’s finances, it continues to fail in its national budgeting, as evidenced by a national debt larger than our entire economy. The way forward lies in the legislative and executive branches working together to establish clear and transparent criteria and metrics for spending. They must ensure that all spending decisions are based on merit, competition, or well-designed and effective formulas.

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