The Dynamics of Congressional Earmarks

Earmarks Explained

Working as a consultant and contractor to the Federal Government for over twenty-five years, I learned much about Congressional earmarks are also known as "plus-ups."

When Congressional earmarks were permitted, chairpersons of the various committees had considerable power to influence and direct how money is appropriated and spent.

Under the seniority system, members of Congress could use their power to give preference to their priorities that had a direct positive benefit to the Congressional Districts. The reward for voters from reelecting their representatives to office was from the power vested from seniority that allowed them to "bring home the bacon."

Rewarding Districts resulted from representatives being able to write specific legislation that defined projects and programs in law. The language could be so specific that it favored contractors who had a presence in the district. That presence meant the ability to hire locally qualified workers to perform the necessary tasks — the money from earmarks legislated for spending locally.

Often, congressional representatives from different committees would collaborate to define projects and programs to which resources would be allocated and appropriated across multiple districts.

Such money sometimes called set-asides when attached to broader initiatives.

The critical idea is that the projects and programs are necessary work to be done by Federal government departments. It isn't "make-work," meaning superficial. It is work that aligns with Executive branch priorities that need funding and can leverage Congressional sponsorship through Chairmanships and seniority.

Take that way, as we have done, and Citizens are deprived of the dynamic of benefiting from their loyalty to candidates. They have lost an incentive, and Congressional representatives can't bring home the bacon.

"Momentum for earmarks grows with Dem majority
BY ALEXANDER BOLTON - 01/23/19 06:00 AM EST  3,419
246
 
With Democrats back in control of the House after eight years of Republican control, there is strong support for reviving earmarks — the power to direct money on pet projects — which caused a major scandal in Congress during the George W. Bush years.
Senate and House lawmakers from both parties predict there will be a serious push to bring back earmarks once the government shutdown is finally over — with one exception. 

Earmarks is a dirty word, so if the specially allocated funds return, they will be referred to as “congressionally directed spending.” 

Support for bringing back earmarks is not unanimous, but it is growing in both parties as Republicans and Democrats alike say too much power has shifted to the presidency.
“When you discontinue earmarks, you’re saying the administration can better spend the money in my district. They know best what we need,” said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.)." 

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/426525-momentum-for-earmarks-grows-with-dem-majority?userid=23145

Earmarks: Better Government through Honest Graft - American Affairs ...

Summer 2018 / Volume II, Number 2
AMERICAN AFFAIRS JOURNAL

Call For National Work Stoppage

Eight-hundred thousand federal workers are either at home or being forced to work without a paycheck by Donald Trump's Shutdown. He fabricated the event and rejected bipartisan legislation to open the government. Senator Mitch McConnell Has joined him in the roadblock.

What is a nation to do?

First, I thought about encouraged TSA workers and Air Traffic Controllers to stay home from work. That would grind the nation to a stop.

However, their doing that alone exposes them to legal action. Whereas, if the organized labor and a large portion of the nation's workforce decided to stay home from work in protest, that would get the President's attention and that of the Republican Congress who have lost good judgment.

Let's have it, a National Work Stoppage in sympathy with Federal Workers and contractors who are out of work and out of paychecks.

No work until the the shutdown ends.

A Catalyst to Accelerate Change

With Trump and his Republicans in a loggerhead with Pelosi and the Democrats, something has to give. Arguably, the President is an untrustworthy leader. Not even Mitch McConnell will carry the bat for him again.

Republicans authored and passed legislation to fund the government. Then, Trump wouldn't sign it. That is the fact and the blockage point. Democrats compromised by offering $1.3 Billion for Homeland Security and  Trump wants $5.7 Billion that includes his wall.

Yesterday, he offered to trade a three-year reprieve for Dreamers in exchange for his wall. The Democrats reject that because Obama had already taken care of the Dreamers and Trump withdrew that support. Now, he offers to give a little back, something already settled. That is why Democrats are not buying it. He's grabbing and cheating again as a "bargaining" ploy.

The pressure points to break the Washington jam up in government must come from a different direction. I suggest that the progressive Democrats in the House and Senate meet in a caucus to accomplish the following:

1. Organize teams to target specific Republicans in the House and Senate to motivate, inspire, and move them to confront Mitch McConnell and other Republican leaders to reject Donald Trump by mismanagement, abuse of power, and his undermining the rule of law.

2. Initiate a PR campaign that takes the problem to the voters in the States and Districts where America needs their representatives to align with Democrats to get the people's business done in Washington.

3. Emphasize these themes:

• Regenerate America with Sustainable Economics
• Purge authoritarianism from the American Government
• End Citizens United
• Embrace collaboration and consensus to advance solutions to big problems comprehensively
• Accelerate resolution to the Donald Trump issues by investigating the most egregious allegations

Image Credit: Mid-Michigan Progressive Democrats

Americans Watch as Nation Trumpled

Today's news is that incontrovertible evidence shows that President Trump committed perjury by directing his lawyer, Michael Cohen to lie before Congress. The testimony is fact-checked and verified by media sources and corroborated with information made public in court filings by the Special Counsel, Mueller.

Set aside all of the details related to the President and his campaigns collusion with the Russians to interfere in the American Political System because that is complicated. The simple fact is that Trump can be shown to have committed perjury and that alone is an impeachable offense.

Democrats in the House are investigating with the intent to prove it. Will Senate Republicans act on that evidence when handed to them by the House for prosecution?

Attorney General nominee William Barr said in testimony that if given such a hypothetical case involving the President, he would act to prosecute perjury because no one is above the law.

Donald Trump's managerial incompetence and untrustworthiness are apparent to most Americans. They are anguished by watching 800,000 federal workers go without their paychecks. They are deeply troubled by the prospect that Trump and "go-along" Republicans are wrecking the economy.

Justice is slow in this scenario because democracy is undermined by capitalists and by the law that currently equates corporations as being people and permitting them to wield undue power and influence through buying off Congress and the Executive branch.

This situation must stop at once to save the American democracy from insurgent destruction and plundering that you can see with your own eyes and hear with your ears.

Image: www.vocfm.co.za

Excerpt from the Manifesto

From the preface of my new book:




State of the Union

I had an epiphany after writing the first draft of this book. It goes back to an earlier book, Smart Data, Enterprise Performance Optimization Strategy, (c) 2010 Wiley Publishing. In that work, Dr. Rodger and I advocated the creation of a “U.S. President's Performance Management Dashboard.” The dashboard would provide performance metrics, aggregated from all of the programs and service initiatives under the Departments and Agencies of government such that the President and Congress can see metrics at any level that they desire. It is absurd that the federal government doesn't have such a thing already, but it doesn't.

If it did, then the State of the Union would be readily available for all to see at any point in time (in real time). The epiphany part is that the State of the Union report from Presidents is probably not delivered always at the right time. The U.S. Constitution is casual about it. "The formal basis for the State of the Union Address is from the U.S. Constitution: The President “shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” Article II, Section 3, Clause 1.

Historically, it has been an annual message, of a sort. Think about it. A new President arrives in January. Would it not have been useful to have a State of the Union report from a credible system having been delivered, say in the prior October, before the national election? That way voters can evaluate the past performance and understand the stepping stone to the next administration.

The US Federal government fiscal year is from October to September. The next government could be a continued incumbency for a second term. Or, it could be a new presidency. The dashboard and its metrics would be inherited for the next incumbent to assume control to produce new metrics. Having a standard system and approach would ensure continuity in accountability. That does not mean that the dashboard would not change. In fact, the contents would reflect the actions of the Executive branch and Congress at changing and amending legislation, funding, and schedules. Otherwise, it must be dynamic and accountable for real-time results.

A Presidential Dashboard as envisioned is a management tool for which the results are the U.S. Government Performance that should be available and accessible by Congress and the citizens with some caveats particular to national security. Unlike government audits that are review-mirror-facing, an executive management system must have forward planning and controls, including simulation and predictive performance capabilities. Embracing the idea that the federal government is an automated regulatory environment is a context for systems engineering.

Below is the Table of Contents and you should know that the author’s style is to share the research and discovery journey that ultimately leads to suggested solutions and actions. Reading party platforms and candidate manifestos as they are today is not reader-friendly. That is part of the problem. Some of the information includes long quotations that could be put into an appendix. Hiding that information would preclude your experience, as much as you can bear. What makes it difficult? Each party decides priorities and topics that are not reconciled and factually substantiated with citizens’ needs and wants. Much of the contents are philosophical and debatable. The conclusion is that the government remains off course from addressing essential services and requirements that are best expressed as outcomes.

Table of Contents

TOC Overview:

Chapter 1: Why a U.S. President Manifesto Standard?

Chapter 2: Where to Begin: U.S. Constitution

Chapter 3: A Good Life for All Citizens for an Entire Lifetime

Chapter 4: Constructing the Presidential Manifesto Outline

Chapter 5: The Government Bureaucracy and Constructing the President’s Manifesto

Chapter 6: The U.S. Constitution and body of laws and regulations

Chapter 7: A Presidential Candidate’s Manifesto should be enduring

Chapter 8: How Should a Candidate Develop a Manifesto?

Chapter 9: Presidential Candidate Manifesto and Political Party Platforms

Chapter 10: Draft of a Hypothetical Manifesto Based Upon Democratic Candidates in Election 2016

10.1 Democratic Party Platform 2016

10.2 Obama

10.3 Brookings Institute

Chapter 11: Draft of a Hypothetical Manifesto Based Upon Republican Candidates in Election 2016

11.1 Republican Party Platform 2016

11.2 Donald Trump

11.3 American Enterprise Institute

Chapter 12: The Federal Government Enterprise Model

Chapter 13: An Outline for a Presidential Candidate’s Manifesto

Chapter 14: The Role and Purpose of Political Parties

A President’s Manifesto

A model for how presidential candidates can tell their story

by James A. George (c) 2019 All Rights Reserved

Throw Him Out

We the People can throw him out.

During the William Barr AG confirmation hearings, there is much discussion about the unitary powers of the President.

"The unitary executive theory is a theory of American constitutional law holding that the President possesses the power to control the entire executive branch. The doctrine is rooted in Article Two of the United States Constitution, which vests 'the executive power' of the United States in the President." 

Wiki

To that end, the topic is about the extent to which a President can control or deny investigations into his behavior and performance as chief executive of the federal government. William Barr and some other former Republican administration AGs believe that high crimes and misdemeanors as stated in the Constitution is the bar for impeachment. However, they also acknowledge that if citizens lose confidence in a President and believe the incumbent is not performing correctly or is being abusive of his office or otherwise not fulfilling the oath, then they can demand ouster.

While Americans wait patiently for the rule of law and Special Prosecutor to deliver the results of an investigation into possible collusion or conspiracy to collude and obstruction of justice, they do not have to stand by watching Trump abuse federal workers with a shutdown.

He made the shutdown, and it has negative consequences to the economy and essential services required for national security. Therefore, I ask my fellow Americans to join in condemning his presidency and ending it with impeachment on the grounds of mismanagement and abuses of power and failing to fulfill his oath.

The investigation and potential criminality resulting from that can take its time. Americans don't have to wait for that to demand the ouster of Donald Trump.