“We need to lay clear these earmarks” said Republican congressman Pat McHenry, from North Carolina. He has convinced a home-state newspaper to call him “one of Congress’ most outspoken critics of earmarks”.
In spite of that, Earmark Watch notes that Representative McHenry arranged to have 3.25 million dollars in earmarks inserted into congressional legislation.
McHenry is a great example of what Republicans mean when they say that they’re against congressional earmarks. What they mean is that they’re against earmarks, except for the 3.25 million dollars that they want.
(Sources: BlueNC, December 20, 2007; Winston Salem Journal, December 20, 2007)
