Editoral: Congressional earmarks posted on Sunlight Foundation Web site

Publication: Glenn Post Star

Mark Mahoney
July 15, 2008

Congressional earmarks, those pork barrel projects that pad the federal budget, had long been a big secret to most taxpayers. That’s because members of Congress didn’t like to let the general public know who was influencing them.

Often, the earmarks — which are essentially requests for funding through the federal budget — never got funded. But at least the representatives and senators could tell their supporters they were putting in for the money. And that might help them raise more money from those to whom they promise favors.

The Sunlight Foundation, a congressional watchdog group, is now making the information about earmark requests available to the public online on their Web site. The site is: http://sunlightfoundation.com/earmarkdisclosures/2009/

Unlike some of her colleagues, our own congresswoman, Kirsten Gillibrand, has been very open about making her earmark requests available to the public. In fact, she was one of the first members of Congress to post her earmarks on her congressional Web site, and she’s been very consistent in disclosing information about who she meets with and who gets her attention.

Gillibrand’s earmarks are listed on the Sunlight Foundation Web site, along with a letter to voters explaining her positions and stating that she is cutting her earmark requests by 60 percent.

This listing is another public service for your right to know provided by our friends at the Sunlight Foundation.