Posted by
John R. LaPlante on Friday, September 22, 2006 2:47:50 PM
Much of the attention on earmarks has been at the federal level, and rightly so. But one group in the State Policy Network isn’t happy with the practice, even though it may at first benefit its state.
The Rio Grande Foundation says that New Mexico receives $2 in federal spending for every $1 that it sends to Washington, DC. Still, says the group’s president, Paul Gessing, New Mexico is a relatively poor and undeveloped state. The federal funds haven’t done much for the state’s economy.
The foundation points out that federal earmarking contributes to a rising deficit, which stands at $28,000 per citizen, and growing daily. As the deficit has increased, so have the number of earmarks. Actually, the number of earmarks has exploded, from 958 in 1996 to 15,877 last year—an increase of over 1500 percent.
Of particular interest to New Mexico’s residents is the Wheels Museum, an Albuquerque institution that received $525,000 in earmarked money. Gessing decries such activity, and says “Ideally, the costs of such museums should be borne by those who actually attend them or charities with an interest in promoting cultural advancement.”
The museum, by the way, does have something of an entrepreneurial spirit. It’s going to get its money the old-fashioned-way of asking people to voluntarily give, at a fundraising event.
Now that’s a vehicle we can get aboard!