Editorial: Spending Practices Need to Change
Editorial: Spending Practices Need to Change
Norwich (Conn.) Bulletin
Lost amid the health care reform debate in Washington is a looming crisis that Congress needs to address — and address quickly.
The transportation authorization bill expires Oct. 1, a bill that drew much attention and criticism for its 6,371 earmarks, including the infamous $223 million “bridge to nowhere.” A new authorization bill needs to be enacted, and industry lobbyists are spending hundreds of millions in efforts to add more pork to the next bill. Thus far, $122.6 million has been spent on lobbying efforts, and another $8.2 million in campaign contributions, according to a recent report from the Center for Public Integrity.
The amount of pork barrel projects that finds its way into the transportation bill is bad enough, but an even more dire situation exists this time around — there’s no money.
Transportation projects are funded from revenue collected from the federal gas tax. But Congress has allocated more money to projects than what is collected annually in gas taxes since 2002 — and in 2008, the Highway Fund went broke.
It was necessary to transfer $8 billion from the Treasury Department to close the gap last year, and another $7 billion was needed this year.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates it will take an additional $100 billion just to cover projected expenses between now and 2018 — and no one knows where that money will come from.
Earmarks won’t fly
Considering the state of the economy, and an ever-growing national debt, it will not be easy to secure passage of another massive funding bill — especially one loaded with earmarks.
Our federal transportation system is the backbone of the American economy, and we need to continue to invest in it. But there is no clearly defined national vision in terms of project priorities or funding policy. Instead, transportation funding has served primarily as a vehicle for representatives and senators to steer federal dollars back home for pet projects — bringing home the bacon through endless lists of pork barrel projects.
That needs to change.
