NOV. 4 ELECTION
McCaul doesn't seek earmarks - anymore
Congressman condemns projects in ads but used to seek them.
By Jason Embry
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul says in a television campaign commercial that he "said no" to earmarks, the pet local projects that members of Congress tuck into annual spending bills.
What McCaul doesn't say is that he used to say yes to them.
 Robert Godwin/FOR AMERICAN-STATESMAN Michael McCaul  U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul has helped reform the earmark process, sponsoring an amendment that outlawed projects named after current members of Congress. |
McCaul, R-Austin, did not request any earmarks for his district this year. He said he wanted to reform the often-criticized earmark process, and he didn't think seeking them at the same time would help that cause.
"When it became clear that the majority party would not attempt to pass earmark reform, Congressman McCaul decided that even continuing to participate while holding himself to high ethical standards would appear hypocritical," McCaul spokesman Mike Rosen said.
But McCaul, who has been in Congress since 2005 and is trying to fend off Democratic challenger Larry Joe Doherty, has sought earmarks before.
McCaul worked with other members of Congress last year to secure $20 million worth of earmarks, including $1.7 million that he sponsored by himself, according to the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense. Because of reforms passed early in 2007, last year was the first time lawmakers had to disclose which earmarks they sponsored.
In fact, McCaul sent out news releases seven months ago touting earmarks that he helped secure for Huston-Tillotson University and the Austin Police Department.
McCaul represents the 10th Congressional District, which stretches east from North Austin along U.S. 290 to the western suburbs of Houston.
Doherty, McCaul's Democratic challenger, said he would not seek earmarks if elected.
Earmarks have been widely criticized because they can be dropped into spending bills late in the legislative process without debate. Critics also say they force government agencies to make spending decisions based on the orders of self-promoting members of Congress instead of evaluating which projects most need the money.
The most infamous earmarks include the "bridge to nowhere" in Alaska, the $231 million project serving an island of 50 people. Earmarks were further tarnished when former Republican Rep. Randall "Duke" Cunningham steered them to someone who was giving him bribes.
McCaul has had a taste of success in reforming the earmark process.
He sponsored an amendment that outlawed projects named after current members of Congress, after Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., secured money for a college center named after himself.
Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense said members of Congress changed the earmark system soon after Democrats took over in early 2007 by publicizing the names of earmark sponsors, but there have not been major changes in the process since then. The few spending bills that Congress managed to approve before breaking for this year's elections included earmarks.
Still, Ellis said the case for change builds when lawmakers such as McCaul say they won't request the projects.
"The more people that are saying that, the more you have evidence that there are elected officials who get re-elected that are concerned about this, and that there are fundamental problems," Ellis said. "To me, those are people who are being leaders."
jembry@statesman.com; 202-887-8329
McCaul's earmarks in 2007
Earmarks that U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul sponsored or co-sponsored in the spending bills that Congress approved in 2007:
$1.6 million, enhanced holographic imager, Zebra Imaging
$900,000, Imaging Research Center, University of Texas
$1.6 million, National Initiative for Applications of Multifunctional Materials, University of Texas
$243,000, Math and Science Success Center, Huston-Tillotson University
$195,000, dropout prevention in high schools, Communities in Schools
Source: Office of Michael McCaul
