BO quote “When I'm president, I will go line by line to make sure that we are not spending money unwisely." Good for BO. 
NEWSWEEK
Last spring President Obama and House leaders pledged to crack down on "earmarking," the practice by which lawmakers slip pet projects into spending bills that often benefit those who just happen to contribute to their campaigns. But on July 30, it was business as usual when the House approved a $636 billion military spending bill stuffed with about 1,100 earmarks worth more than $2.7 billion. "The swamp has not been drained, to put it mildly," says GOP Rep. Jeff Flake, who offered repeated amendments to strike selected earmarks, all of which failed. Among his targets: at least 70 earmarks worth more than $500 million for former clients of defunct lobbying firm PMA Group (closely tied to powerful Defense Appropriations chair Rep. John Murtha), which the FBI raided last year. The bill also included $80 million for an antimissile defense project that Defense Secretary Robert Gates wants to kill but is being built, in part, by Northrop Grumman in Murtha's district. (A Murtha spokesman didn't respond to requests for comment.)
Shame on BO :>(
NEWSWEEK
Last spring President Obama and House leaders pledged to crack down on "earmarking," the practice by which lawmakers slip pet projects into spending bills that often benefit those who just happen to contribute to their campaigns. But on July 30, it was business as usual when the House approved a $636 billion military spending bill stuffed with about 1,100 earmarks worth more than $2.7 billion. "The swamp has not been drained, to put it mildly," says GOP Rep. Jeff Flake, who offered repeated amendments to strike selected earmarks, all of which failed. Among his targets: at least 70 earmarks worth more than $500 million for former clients of defunct lobbying firm PMA Group (closely tied to powerful Defense Appropriations chair Rep. John Murtha), which the FBI raided last year. The bill also included $80 million for an antimissile defense project that Defense Secretary Robert Gates wants to kill but is being built, in part, by Northrop Grumman in Murtha's district. (A Murtha spokesman didn't respond to requests for comment.)
Shame on BO :>(
