The McCain-Palin meme that they are going to reform a corrupt Washington, while keeping with traditional conservative values, has obviously resonated with many voters. But there seems to be a disconnect between the problems voters are facing and the solutions the Republican ticket offers. John McCain and Sarah Palin have focused on wasteful spending, specifically pork barrel projects, but exactly how will cutting pork barrel spending improve the economy, improve our standing overseas, resolve the situation in Iraq, prevent another 9/11, provide better health care coverage, repair our crumbling infrastructure, give everyone who wants one a college education, or stimulate American science and technology? Are earmarks really the "Mary Poppins Carpet Bag" of wasted cash, holding potential solution after solution for all our budget issues? The implication, that the money they save through cutting earmarks will be passed on to the taxpayer through successful, non-wasteful programs, and through taxcuts - is not actually made explicit in their rhetoric. Perhaps because this implication does not match up with the taxcuts and policies that actually constitute the McCain platform... but it's a nice idea.
The thing is, earmark spending just isn't a very big portion of the economy or budget. I made the following figure (perhaps you can tell I'm a scientist, not a graphic artist)
based on these sources:
- National Coalition on Health Care
- "How severe is subprime mess?" -MSNBC.com
- "Cost of Iraq War and Nation Building" -zfacts.com
- "Earmarks appropriations 2008" -U.S. Office of management and budget
As the figure demonstrates, reforming earmark spending (like offshore drilling) will provide more of the "psychological" benefit John McCain is so fond of, rather than any significant amount of cash. Vetoing earmark spending while still paying for the Iraq war is like justifying your hummer purchase by properly inflating its tires. These are desperate times, that call for deep and thoughtful measures. We've got to get the focus off the small stuff and back on to solutions that will make a difference.