Liberty Maven

As has been discussed previously (most notably during the most recent presidential elections), the heated debate over the issue of “earmarks” (or what John McCain likes to call “Pork-Barrel Spending”) is really nothing more than a distraction from the really important issues (such as our monetary system, the Federal Reserve, and the national debt).  As Dave Gonigam eloquently describes at LewRockwell.com:

Earmarks typically make up about 1% of the federal budget. In the spending bill being debated right now, it’s a little under 2%. [....]

But really, we’re talking about a pittance in the big scheme of the federal budget. Slaughter all the earmarks, and it would barely put a dent in runaway spending.

Well actually, it wouldn’t even do that.

That’s because earmarks come out of a total amount of federal spending that’s carved in stone before the earmarks are ever doled out to the lawmakers. In other words, the money’s going to get spent anyway.

The only difference is that with earmarks, individual lawmakers get a little bit of say in how it gets spent. Take earmarks out of the equation, and the decisions get made within the executive branch, or at best, among the Congressional leadership – whose primary concern would be rewarding friends and punishing enemies among the back-benchers.

As Ron Paul has stated, at least by accepting earmarks he can get his constituents some of their money back.  It’s a way of making the best of a terrible situation.

If we want to get real change, we need to change the big things first.  If your bedroom is a mess, you don’t start cleaning up by dusting the baseboards behind the bureau.  You pick up things off the floor and make the bed. Only after the big items have been accomplished should you spend any real time on the minor details.

Why do politicians often tend to get sidetracked with the relatively inconsequential details?  Is it because they are ignorant of the bigger issues?  Or is it simply because they’re scared and overwhelmed by the bigger issues so it’s easier to make the smaller ones appear bigger than they really are.

By clever misdirection they are able to sweep the important tasks under the carpet and fool the majority of the electorate into thinking that important topics are being discussed.  But to those of us paying attention, these politicians are acting like children hiding their peas in their mashed potatoes, hoping mommy and daddy won’t notice.

[Read Dave Gonigam's article in its entirety here].