Chris Hackett is against earmarks

My friend Chis Hackett had a letter to the editor (LTE) published in the Times-Leader today. Just to refresh your memory Hackett was the runner up in the recent (2008) 10th Congressional District election losing to Democratic Freshman Chris Carney in what some people say is an overwhelmingly Republican District. I beg to differ on that. Even the people out in Honesdale, Sunbury and Carbondale saw the light. Carney did a good job in his first 2 years and we have a habit of reelecting incumbents unless they do something stupid like strangling their mistress.

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I'll will always be grateful to Chris Hackett for giving me an interview after he announced he was running for Congress. I also requested one with Meuser but his people kept jerking me around. I think Hackett's downfall was his reluctance to give me another interview as we approached the General Election. Just goes to show that you that we can disagree without being disagreeable.

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Some people give me the credit (blame) for the split in Republican party after the hard fought primary between Hackett and Dan Meuser because of the often spirited exchanges that went on in the comments on Gort42. I'm too modest to take credit for that.

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Back to the letter.

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Like most Americans, I want our president to be successful in leading our country. While it is unrealistic to believe that we would all agree on most or even many policy directions, I think it important that we maintain an open mind and focus on the possibilities that lie ahead.

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During the recent presidential campaign, as a country, we chose “change.” And make no mistake, I agree our country needs change in how Washington, D.C., functions. As I listened closely to the various campaign promises, I hoped that John McCain or Barack Obama would do what they said while trying to win our votes and focus the actions of the government on serving the people, not the special interests.

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But as we’ve seen in the past, words are easy; actions take courage and conviction. And rarely is the easy action or decision the right path. Further, accountability is a bedrock principle of our nation; and I firmly believe we need to hold politicians accountable. When they make a campaign promise or pledge, we must demand they stand by it.

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President Obama said during the campaign: “Absolutely, we need earmark reform. And when I’m president, I will go line by line to make sure that we are not spending money unwisely.” This promise was made when he was debating Sen. McCain, who has a long and consistent record of not requesting earmarks. Candidate Obama told us he would take this fiscally conservative approach, which is very unpopular with the special interest groups that permeate our nation’s capital.

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This would require him to stand up to the House and Senate leadership by saying: It’s not going to be business as usual. If you send me that $410 billion spending bill, I will veto it and I will bring light and attention to those who brazenly requested these outrageous pet projects.
He could use his great communication skills in this way to further the cause of accountable and legitimate government spending.

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But sadly, instead, he has chosen the easy path, one that uses the same tired game of blaming prior administrations. President Obama says this spending bill is the last administration’s business, therefore his campaign promises don’t apply. “I’ll submit an earmarks-free budget next year.” What a complete cop-out and an example of why most Americans find it difficult to believe anything a politician says.

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Remember, President Obama, we signed on for change in Washington, not more political double speak. We need to fix our system now. We can’t afford (and I do mean afford) any more wasteful spending or political word twisting.

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Change is hard; but it is far better to make these changes now while we can decide, rather than having the decisions made for us when the Chinese or sovereign oil nations stop buying our Treasury bonds to finance these expenditures, and our “financial diet” is forced upon us.