September 22, 2005
Senator Reed’s Vote Against Fiscal Transparency
Senator Jack Reed has voted against an amendment making government spending procedures more transparent.
Yesterday, the United States Senate approved a Congressional rules change. Presently, in an appropriations bill, only one house of Congress is required to specify the purpose and dollar amount of an “earmarked” project; the other House need only approve a total amount budgeted for all earmarks. If a similar rules change passes in the House, both houses of Congress will have to approve all specific earmarks.
You might think that a Senator who consistently favors high taxes (Senator Reed scores 17 out of 100 from the National Taxpayers Union, 10 out of 100 from Americans for Tax Reform) would also favor procedures that give close scrutiny to how that money is spent. Apparently, Senator Reed thinks differently.
Senator Lincoln Chafee voted in favor of the transparency amendment.
Actually, you'd think a Senator who favors high taxes would NOT want procedures that give close scrutiny to how that money is spent, wouldn't you? The more people know about how federal money is spent, the less sympathetic they tend to be toward the taxes that pay for it.
Note: "Presently" does not mean "now." It means "soon." This is a word frequently misused.
Posted by: jackA at September 24, 2005 2:44 PM