Cochran: Earmark criticism is ‘poppycock’

Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), who secured
millions of dollars in special projects for his state in the recently passed
omnibus bill, says criticisms of the pet projects are “poppycock.”

Cochran not only brought home plenty of earmark bacon in the $410 billion bill,
he played a major role in helping his colleague Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) —
who is not an appropriator — score big as well. Even though Senate Democrats
are comfortably in the majority, Cochran and Wicker were the top two Senate
earmarkers in the omnibus bill, according to a study by the Taxpayers for Common
Sense (TCS).

{mosads}Cochran, the ranking Republican on the Appropriations Committee, and Wicker
said their earmarks are appropriate and necessary because the projects are
fully vetted and are creating sorely needed “opportunities” that Mississippi
otherwise would never receive.

“There are programs and activities that people are now complaining are earmarks
and therefore just generically inappropriate and ought to be restricted, and
those offering them are greedy and serving their own selfish interests. That’s
just poppycock,” Cochran said. “There’s nothing wrong. They should throw me out
if I didn’t try to support the activities that I know about.”

Cochran and Wicker came up big for the Magnolia State in the omnibus. Cochran
snatched $473 million in earmarks, while Wicker got $396 million, although most
were joint earmarks. The duo are expected to be big earmark players as Congress
crafts appropriations bills this spring

Cochran delivered Mississippi a total of 205 earmarks, including tens of
millions to schools like Mississippi State University, along with $205 million
for a prison expansion project in Yazoo City and $77 million for construction
and maintenance of river levees.

The TCS study ranked Mississippi as the third-highest-funded state in the
country in terms of total earmark value — and fourth-highest when viewed in a
per-capita context — despite having only the 31st-highest population, according
to census data.

Cochran described the numbers as a “tradition of success” that dates back to
the days when powerful Mississippi senators like James Eastland and John
Stennis were in the upper chamber. Eastland, a resident of the Mississippi
Delta, used his position on the Senate Agriculture Committee to promote an
agriculture research project that helped grow his agriculture-rich part of the
state, while Stennis used his chairmanship of the Senate Appropriations
Committee to promote a space center that still provides important military
benefits.

In many cases, Cochran said his earmarks are simply a continuation of
decades-old initiatives launched by Eastland and Stennis — and some benefit
other states, such as improvements to Mississippi River levees.

But TCS Vice President Steve Ellis said Cochran is symbolic of old-fashioned,
unfair funding traditions in which senators with a lot of seniority reap the
benefits.

“It’s impressive, and I don’t mean that in a good way, that he’s able to haul
in as much as he does,” Ellis said. “He’s willing to be aggressive and, quite
frankly, greedy. It’s like a tier of champagne glasses you see at a wedding.
Nothing else gets filled until that first glass gets filled.”

Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), who beat out Cochran in
1996 for the top Senate job, defended his longtime rival and said Cochran is
only benefiting from a tradition that stretches back generations.

Lott said he has not been intimately involved this year in the earmarking
process — he is now a lobbyist — although some of Cochran’s projects could be
leftovers from his tenure. He said when viewed in a historical context, the
earmarks help make up for Mississippi’s longtime under-funding from the federal
government.

“We’ve been at a disadvantage,” he said. “We didn’t have basic infrastructure
in some places. I used to have fights with [Sen.] John McCain [R-Ariz.] over
earmarks. His parents were from Mississippi. I used to go to him and say, ‘I
represent one of the poorest, if not the poorest, states in the country. Give
me a break!’

“He’s from one of the wealthiest states. But when you come from a state where
some people still don’t have running water, I mean, you can’t live like that in
America these days.”

Critics of earmarks, including McCain, have argued that many of the earmark
projects — such as one in the omnibus sponsored by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)
that studies pig odor — are completely unnecessary.

Earmark critics have been loud enough to prompt several reforms. In a letter
sent last week to all senators, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel
Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Cochran announced they will adopt several reforms proposed by President
Obama, such as no longer considering any earmark requests that are not first
explained on a senator’s website 30 days beforehand. Earmarks benefiting
private companies will also receive more scrutiny, and the regular
appropriations process will be more closely adhered to, Inouye and Cochran announced.

But Cochran told The Hill that earmarks are already fully vetted by the Appropriations
Committee, and that proposals to stop the process are “extreme.”

“The ones that I ask for are all merit-based,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve
ever asked for anything that didn’t have merit … I’m opposed to any limitation
on any member of Congress for suggesting and identifying a positive,
constructive federal government activity in his district or state that’s needed
and that would be in the public interest.”
   
Wicker, for his part, attributed his success both to Cochran and to his own
experience as an appropriator when he served in the House.

According to the TCS study, Wicker was solely responsible for only nine
earmarks worth $4.3 million — but when teamed up with other senators, he was
able to claim 144 earmarks for his $396 million total. More than 70 of those
earmarks were with Cochran.

Ellis said Wicker is “riding on Cochran’s coattails.”
   
Wicker freely admits as much, crediting Cochran with his second-place listing
in the TCS study: “I have the ranking member of the Appropriations Committee as
a partner.”

This article was updated at 2:44 p.m.