Networked Journalism Focuses On Appropriation Earmarks

A networked journalism project is focusing on 1,867 secret earmarks (a half-billion dollars), tucked into the appropriations bill for the Department of Labor, Health and Human Services. In 1987, President Reagan vetoed the highway and mass transit bill because of 152 earmarks for pet Congressional projects.

You can see plain Jane tablular state data ranked by gross dollars or by per capita dollars (a more realistic picture, I believe). The top 10 "states" (per capita) are

1. District of Columbia - $9.18
2. Rhode Island - $4.44
3. Connecticut - $3.31
4. Idaho - $3.12
5. Ohio - $2.92
6. Kentucky - $2.82
7. New York - $2.29
8. Montana - $2.27
9. Wisconsin - $2.25
10. New Hampshire - $2.21

Earmarks are line items entries in budget (appropriations) bills; they are added to the bill by Congressmen for a specific project and often without authorship indicated. When presented as per capita expenses, these raw numbers may look insignificant. But remember, these are part of just one appropriations bill. Last year's transportation bill (on a six-year cycle) had $24 billion.

Here's how this project works and what you can do: The Washington DC Examiner has data on earmarks by state. For example, look at Washington.

The Examiner wants interested citizens to check their state data, then to call Congress. Ask your congressman "if he or she sponsored any of your state's earmarks. If the answer is yes, ask why the congressman's name isn't on the earmark. If you recognize the institution designated to receive the earmarked tax dollars, call them and ask them what they intend to do with your money. Then email us at info@examiner.com with the subject line "Earmarks" and tell us what you found out."

The Sunlight Foundation has integrated Google maps with the data. Type in a zip code or town to see (geographically as well as by name) where the money is going. Porkbusters has created an interactive Flash-generated chart showing composite data. Raw data is available at Citizens Against Government Waste.

This is a collaboration between Citizens Against Government Waste, Club For Growth, the Heritage Foundation, Human Events Online, the National Taxpayers Union, Porkbusters, the Sunlight Foundation, Tapscotts Copy Desk, and the Washington DC Examiner. The concept was articulated in July by NYU professor Jay Rosen.

Read Everything But The Squeal and the Anatomy of An Earmark. See earmarks by state, per capita or gross dollars.

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