Candidates Run the Gamut on Earmarks

Clinton in top 10; Obama near bottom; McCain has none
Posted Feb 15, 2008 2:08 PM CST
Candidates Run the Gamut on Earmarks
The 2008 presidential candidates "illustrate the broad spectrum of attitudes toward earmarks in Congress," said an analyst.   (Shutterstock.com)

This year’s presidential frontrunners represent a wide array of stances on congressional earmarking—a term for garnering funds for home-state pork, reports the Washington Post. Hillary Clinton is one of the Senate’s biggest earmark recipients, Barack Obama is in the bottom quarter, and John McCain is one of a handful to reject them entirely.

Clinton’s $342 million in earmarks make her the biggest recipient not on the Senate Appropriations Committee, but, says a rep, she is “very proud to have helped New York-based projects.” McCain believes earmarks lead to unnecessary spending and has used the topic as fodder against Clinton. (More Barack Obama stories.)

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