Hutchison defends earmarks despite Perry jabs ($10 Billion)

Dallas Morning News ^ | 10/09/2009 | Todd J. Gillman

[BuckeyeTexan]

WASHINGTON – Gov. Rick Perry has hammered Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison time and again as a Washington-style big spender. He decries the $2.6 billion that she slipped "secretly" into the last two annual budgets.

But he doesn't know the half of it.

By Hutchison's own accounting, she has steered $8.7 billion to Texas in the last five years. And as Congress finalizes the 2010 budget, the haul will probably exceed $10 billion – a staggering sum that has never been tallied before. It ranks her among the most successful earmarkers in congressional history.

How that plays in the GOP gubernatorial primary will hinge on whether voters buy Perry's argument – that earmarks drive up deficits and reflect a culture of unbridled spending – or Hutchison's view that she deserves kudos, not insults, for taking care of the state's universities, transit systems, hospitals and cities.

"I just get constant jabbing from the governor. Why wouldn't I fight for Texas?" Hutchison said. "I'm proud of my effectiveness. To be hit for being effective for Texas is puzzling."

Earmarks refer to programs that aren't competitively bid. Critics say they sap funding from higher priority projects and invite abuse.

Perry campaign spokesman Mark Miner called $10 billion "an extreme amount of money."

"It shows no restraint when it comes to spending. She's made a career based on earmarks, but when you're governor of Texas, you have to balance a budget," he said. "You have to prioritize."

At Citizens Against Government Waste, a Washington-based watchdog group that tracks and criticizes budget "pork," president Tom Schatz said that – using Hutchison's figures – she accounts for one of every 12 earmark dollars since 2005.

The group has identified $17.2 billion in earmarks in this year's budget and $106.3 billion over the last five years.

[BuckeyeTexan]

Ping

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[BuckeyeTexan]

Perry can win on this issue alone if he plays it right.

Kay Bailey Hutchison is responsible for 1 in every 12 federal earmark dollars spent since 2005.

[Wolfie]

It’s like she wants to get re-elected or something.

[Achilles Heel]

Did the earmarks benefit many average citizens?

[BuckeyeTexan]

The article provides some details about how the earmarks were used. A significant portion of the money goes to military projects in Texas.

I don’t care who benefited from the money. $10 billion is a large amount of federal taxpayer money no matter how it is spent. She argues that the money would have gone somewhere else if she hadn’t earmarked it. I call BS on that. Spending is spending. She needs to declare herself a Democrat and stop trying to fool Texans into thinking she’s a fiscal conservative.

[Navy Patriot]

Earmarks are for the RINO country clubber inside beltway Republicans. No conservatives need apply.

Could be Kay has tipped her hand.

[PaleoBob]

At least she then votes FOR the earmarks she writes in—unlike the sanctimonious Ron Paul, who writes them in and then votes AGAINST them. What a joke.

[DainBramage]

uhm...after the corridor bs I dont think he has a leg to stand on.

[caphillbabe]

Just about every governor has an office in DC , Texas included. Care to take a guess what these state offices work on?

Yep, earmarks. I would bet my paycheck that Perry’s folks in Dc worked with Sen Hutchinson to get some of those earmarks, especially transportation dollars.

And while I know people get bent out of shape over these things, it is true that had Hutchinson not gotten these dollars, another state would have have. If you are a Texan, you should be proud that Texas lawmakers ensure that large percentage of the money Texans send to the Feds comes back to the Lone Star State. Something like 95 cents on the dollar. Imagine California getting that money.

[Huebolt]

Texans send to the Feds

So true. When Wallstreet, the banks, etc. were making billions, no one said anything. When oil went up in the 80's, WINDFALL PROFIT TAXES were declared to punish... TEXAS.

[deport]

If you are a Texan, you should be proud that Texas lawmakers ensure that large percentage of the money Texans send to the Feds comes back to the Lone Star State. Something like 95 cents on the dollar.

---

Texas get something like 80 cents out of every dollar they send to DC via the gasoline sales tax if I remember correctly. I’ll bet that Perry has requested or someone in gov’t has requested many of those earmarks for some pet project. Perry isn’t walking around with a halo over his head.