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Santorum Surge Makes Pork Spending Election Issue

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    Good news for taxpayers?

  • Duration 6:46
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-- primary season is heating up and the heat is all the presidential candidate Rick Santorum.

The former Republican senators on the fire for pushing so called poll projects while in office.

If you give -- spending is becoming an election year issue is that the best news for taxpayers.

Hi everybody I'm Stuart Varney in for David Asman and welcome -- folds on fox let's go in focus Swiss people's.

Victoria barracks and -- of the MacDonald rich call god.

The rich undock and -- and bread and Steve you first what do you say.

Well -- up.

Stewart this is an outrage the idea that only thirty billion of -- -- should be ignored.

This this is equivalent to greasing the skids for big government.

They give you congressman Stuart Varney ten million dollars you vote for hundreds of billions of dollars in spending.

So it's corrupting it leads to -- lack of transparency.

This can lead to more scandals but most of all at least some mammoth governments are getting rid of earmarks is good for taxpayers.

What do you say Rick I'm -- -- I think Steve is right in the sense that earmarks can be very touchy things.

Let's face it they're never going away so long as congressmen and senators have to go home.

And politic in their districts they want to show people that they brought home the bacon.

And -- none of the candidates in the Republican primary you're gonna be challenged on this because they're leaders have the worst records when it comes earmarks.

At least President Obama promised in his 2011.

-- state of the union speech that he would veto anything with earmarks and that's a promise he's kept.

I Victoria at least he's he's the debate good to have this election year.

It's a great debate to have and Rick I feel like you're being to -- -- here.

Why can't congress men and women -- home and say I -- great choices for our country.

Why doesn't -- -- why does it have to be about building that bridge to nowhere in in our state in our district.

It doesn't have to be that way yet earmarks are at the center of it and that's why it's wonderful.

All that this is becoming a debate in the in the in the election all right the have to be that way but it is a -- do you go abided by Morgan earmarks good bad bad -- yes -- But -- I love the idea about debating anything that involves cutting our spending.

But that being said I I really truthfully think earmarks or drop in the bucket it's about what thirty billion dollars here and spending and we technically have a moratorium on the right now billion.

Then have a -- by comparison fifteen trillion dollar deficit right now I mean what we really should be debating about in my opinion.

Is entitlements social security and Medicare we shouldn't we should be debating about defense.

Ending as well what we're dealing Elizabeth what -- you -- gateway drug to bigger government corruption more spending 90000 earmarks over the last decade the government has doubled the cornhuskers kick back.

Was a big pork filled.

The -- -- basically not to send bet senator Ben Nelson to get his.

Both for health care -- -- president's stimulus plan.

Loaded with pork loaded with earmarks the founding fathers said it was unconstitutional.

Never -- the appropriate powers of the congress with -- where they allowed.

To have up pork spending we live for 200 years without -- Thomas Jefferson -- it said the meanest people in government.

Would get the most pork and they would wasted that's what he set the rich.

I don't -- got have a hood in moss described as a gateway drug but -- just did -- so what is certain.

You know that's a perfect description and I had made notes to say the same thing so Liz you and I are.

RY nine and then it's.

And of the thirty billion dollars is very symbolically important to an engages the American people about a proper discussion on the role of government.

But I would point out that we should be talking also about economic growth because every 1% increase in.

GDP is another 140 billion -- so let's not get so obsessed on the spending side that we forget to talk about the the growth side.

Steve let me go back to you for a second.

Happy has any political party in American history ever banned earmarks successfully and dominant and impose that -- have a I've been the answer is no but it's matter of scale a Ronald Reagan in the mid 1980s Vito at a highway bill whip because -- shocked that I 150 these corrupt things -- it.

150 earmarks twenty years later George W.

Bush signs a highway bill with over a thousand earmarks in it.

So what's a matter of scale the -- can cut it back to get the better and remember this is as -- says.

This is like of the broken window theory -- allow wanted to be broken and neighborhood don't fix and eventually lose and neighborhood crime.

This is the same thing they use earmarks to -- the way to big government they bribe you with them.

All right Rick how will we ever gonna make -- -- but cutting spending if they don't stop with a little stuff like him box.

Life.

It's not run against -- the earmarks I think it's a great idea have but the truth is it's just shifting the budget around and no matter what you do.

To try and put -- that Joseph would supposedly -- they've done.

All that's gonna happen is congress will go around -- -- appealing directly to the agency's.

And getting the agencies the earmark the money that they would have done on the -- that's exactly what they're doing right now so it's it's not something we should expect every change.

But you know here's -- deal we had we existed for 200 years without earmarks about this favor factory.

And what happens is when you may be appropriate money for a bicycle -- and nowhere that's sucks money out above the transportation department's budget for example.

-- right that's why -- bridges and roads -- in disrepair.

And then salsa lesson we existed 200 years -- that they did.

But but -- Scully -- about it but it's not a bad thing did you have to go through agencies and go through -- review process on these things a problem with earmarks as they go through with nobody looking -- Which is a -- invitation for corruption.

Morgan what you -- -- -- Yeah I gotta say that -- every bridge to nowhere we have with earmarks he also has some very good earmarks that I think should be looked at and and shouldn't be just.

Thrown in the pile with the with the corrupt ones like earmarks for higher education like some of the infrastructure projects that have been.

Isn't this the megabyte card and all I -- have to be sneaky though earmarks are by definition sneaky very.

You're completely -- tangential issues worked into a larger bill.

If these are good things Morgan why did they why did they have to happen is sneaky way I I agree I can't think -- -- it looked and reforms I don't think they should just be everything should.

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