Inhofe’s earmarks outnumber rest of Oklahoma delegation’s

Original Link: http://oudaily.com/news/2009/mar/13/inhofes-earmarks-outnumber-rest-oklahoma-delegatio/

There’s a $91.6 million difference between Oklahoma Republican Sens. Jim Inhofe and Tom Coburn.

Inhofe voted down a $410 billion federal omnibus spending bill Thursday and fervently blasted “Democrats’ billion-dollar spending spree” in a statement released soon after the Senate passed it.

But Inhofe — who said Thursday he has “refused to go along with big government spending or big government solutions” — sponsored or co-sponsored 74 earmarks worth more than $91.6 million.

Coburn — one of Capitol Hill’s most outspoken opponents of earmarking — asked for zero.

Standing by his spending

In an e-mail to The Daily, Inhofe chided the government, which he said, “didn’t do enough to restrain spending” over the last few years, which has led to an increased federal deficit. He also has bemoaned the omnibus bill, which contains more than 9,000 congressional earmarks worth about $7.7 billion, according to a list compiled by the earmarks watchdog Taxpayers for Common Sense.

But Inhofe stands by his own earmarks, including $274,000 for an OSU study on animal waste management and $475,000 for the beautification of Hudiburg Drive in Midwest City.

“Unfortunately, Democrats voted to keep the earmarks in the bill, and President Obama went along,” he said via e-mail. “Therefore, as long as Democrats continue to keep the current process intact, you can bet I will be working to get every dollar I can for Oklahoma.”

Inhofe and other members of Congress requested their earmarks for this budget last year, before Obama took office.

Coburn, who has never requested an earmark in his eight years in Congress, also voted down the omnibus spending bill. He has repeatedly scoffed at other lawmakers’ earmarks.

“The greatest pleasure in the world is spending other people’s money,” Coburn said. “We’re not elected to bring home the bacon; we’re elected to do the right thing for the country.”

Coburn said he does not need earmarks to help the people of Oklahoma, but called the number of earmarks Inhofe requested “a real pittance compared to what everyone else has.”

“You never see a superfluous earmark from Sen. Inhofe,” he said. “You won’t see him do an earmark for a private company or help any of his friends.”

Inhofe did not request any earmarks for private companies, but he has several earmarks dedicated to OU.

This year’s requests include $143,000 to OU for equipment and research “for applications derived from prosthetic and assistive mobility technologies for injured war fighters.” He and Oklahoma Republican Rep. Tom Cole also requested $713,625 for OU biofuel refining engineering, as well as $350,000 for experimental radar research at the National Weather Center.

Inhofe’s requests for earmarks far outnumbered the rest of the Oklahoma delegation’s, but he was not the only one to request funds. Coburn was the only one to not request earmarks.

Rep. Tom Cole sponsored or co-sponsored 19 earmarks worth nearly $13 million. Reps. John Sullivan, Mary Fallin and Frank Lucas, all Republicans, each requested 10 or more earmarks, and each requested less than $7 million.

Oklahoma’s only Democrat in Congress, Rep. Dan Boren, requested 17 earmarks worth $11.7 million. Boren was the only Oklahoman to vote for the omnibus bill.

Earmarks united Boren with his fellow Oklahoma delegates in the GOP. He co-sponsored earmarks with Lucas, Sullivan and Fallin and co-sponsored 10 with Inhofe.