Why investigate and evaluate earmarks?
Through earmarks, members of Congress can secure millions of dollars of funding for a recipient (a private company, nonprofit, university, or a state or local government) or a specific project (building a road, purchasing or setting aside land). Earmarks receive little or no debate from Congress as a whole; they are not subject to competitive bidding or administrative review, and most earmarks are not examined by the press. Citizen oversight is thus necessary to ensure that members are responsibly and justifiably spending taxpayer dollars. In the past, some members clearly abused earmarks — the most extreme case being former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, who exchanged earmarks for bribes.
