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Fundraisers for McCain bring in pork

Undeterred by threat to unmask offenders

By Jim McElhatton (Contact) | Thursday, September 25, 2008

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Sen. John McCain vows to hold members of Congress accountable for requesting money for pork-barrel projects, but that hasn't stopped him from enlisting fundraising help from several lawmakers who sponsored tens of millions of dollars in "earmarks" in this year's federal spending bills.

Of the seven Republican members of the House who bundled hundreds of thousands of dollars in political donations for Mr. McCain's presidential campaign, only two have sworn off earmarks, according to watchdog groups.

Five others - Reps. Spencer Bachus of Alabama, Fred Upton of Michigan, George Radanovich of California, and Joe L. Barton and Pete Sessions, both of Texas - sponsored or co-sponsored more than $50 million in earmarks in fiscal 2008. They also raised $400,000 to $950,000 in political donations to help Mr. McCain secure the Republican nomination.

These elected officials make no apologies for seeking earmarks even as the man they are trying to put in the White House calls such spending measures corrupt and abusive.

"The congressman has not taken the earmark-moratorium pledge," said Radanovich spokesman Spencer Pedersen. "He agrees with Senator McCain that there are an abundance of wasteful, irresponsible earmarks, but he also believes that it is his job as a member of Congress to represent his constituents and make earmark requests that he determines appropriate for the federal government to help fund."

Mr. Sessions, who has raised up to a quarter-million dollars for Mr. McCain, requested $2.9 million in earmarks in fiscal 2008, according to data compiled by the Citizens Against Government Waste. He, too, declines to swear off earmarks, although he said he agrees with Mr. McCain that "wasteful earmarks have become a symbol of broken Washington."

"Until earmark reform or a bipartisan moratorium is implemented, I have chosen to return tax dollars to Texas for select meritorious projects that meet specific accountability and transparency standards - including business and matching-fund plans, financial-interest declarations and online disclosure - that my Republican colleagues and I believe Congress should adopt," Mr. Sessions said.

Mr. McCain has a different view.

"I promise you I'll take an ink pen, and I will veto every pork-barrel earmark spending bill that comes across my desk," Mr. McCain said to a cheering crowd at a campaign rally in Blaine, Minn., last week. "You will know their names, and I will make them famous."

At a speech at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh in April, Mr. McCain pledged to seek line-item veto authority to end earmarks "once and for all."