Watchdogs Release Database Detailing Earmarks and Campaign Contributions

Washington, D.C. – Two of Washington, D.C.’s most reliable and respected non-partisan watchdogs joined forces today and released a comprehensive database linking campaign contributions with earmarked spending by lawmakers.

Taxpayers for Common Sense, a national budget watchdog, provided data documenting more than 20,000 earmarked spending provisions worth over $35 billion. The Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks money-in-politics on its website, OpenSecrets.org, provided data detailing $226.8 million worth of campaign contributions and lobbying expenditures.

“At a minimum, earmarks granted to lawmakers' friends and supporters merit scrutiny and indicate potential conflicts of interest,” said Sheila Krumholz, Executive Director of the Center for Responsive Politics. “This information will help Americans decide for themselves whether their congressional representatives are beholden to the voters who elect them – or to elite interests bankrolling their campaigns.”

With the new user-friendly tools that are available at www.opensecrets.org and www.taxpayer.net , the public can see how much their elected official secured in earmarked spending during fiscal years 2008 and 2009. Citizens may then explore which entities received the earmarked funding and whether –and how much – those entities and their leaders contributed to the lawmaker’s campaign. Additionally, the underlying data sets are available for download at each of the organizations’ websites.

“Earmarks and campaign contributions are part and parcel of the pay-to-play system that permeates Washington,” said Ryan Alexander, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense. “Companies making thousands of dollars in campaign contributions get millions of dollars of earmarked taxpayer dollars from lawmakers.”

In recent years, corruption probes related to earmarks have increased, and earlier this year, one prominent lobby shop shuttered operations following an FBI raid. Taxpayers for Common Sense and the Center for Responsive Politics intend to continue this partnership and release additional data on FY2009 beneficiaries and related campaign contributions and FY2010 earmarks and campaign contributions when available.

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Access the database of FY08 & FY09 Earmarks and Related Campaign Contributions

Read our Analysis of FY2009 Appropriations Earmarks and the TCS Proposal for Earmark Reform