Earmarks are being put under the microscope when it comes to government waste.
The new Congressional Pig Book has been released by Citizens Against Government Waste. Tom Schatz, the group's President, tells KTRH spending on earmarks has gone up by 33% from last year.
“That’s a larger increase than in prior years. It is more than double since 2012, which was the first year after Congress imposed an earmark moratorium,” Schatz explained.
The problem is the Senate wants to extend the earmark moratorium, but the House of Representatives has not made a similar move.
“Any single change in the definition of an earmark will open the doors for a lot of other earmarks,” Schatz stated, calling the spending on earmarks by Congress “out of control.”