The promise from July 13th, 2006: (WSJ) If she [Pelosi] becomes speaker in the next Congress, she says, she would press to severely reduce earmarks. "Personally, myself, I'd get rid of all of them," she says. "None of them is worth the skepticism, the cynicism the public has... and the fiscal irresponsibility of it."
The reality: (Fox News) Earmarks are viewed by many as a symbol of wasteful government spending. But the House slipped $278 million worth of earmarks into the Labor/HHS appropriations bill it passed before the July 4 recess.
The group Citizens Against Government Waste says that is a 122 percent increase in the amount spent on earmarks from last year's bill. Included were $25 million for the something called the National Writing Project, for teachers.
The Education Department didn't ask for the money because $3 billion already exists to improve teachers' writing.
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