Quotes

MCCAIN: Americans want this process stopped. They want the wanton waste and mismanagement of their tax dollars stopped. And it indicates the absolute requirement for the next president of the United States. I commit to vetoing every single bill that as a pork barrel or earmark project on it. (END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: Senator Feinstein, you and Senator Leahy voted against that legislation on Friday. Senator Clinton and Senator Obama joined Senator McCain in voting for it. Why did you oppose a freeze on those so-called earmarks? FEINSTEIN: Well, for two reasons. The first is, we have put some reforms in place with respect to transparency, with respect to preventing earmarks from being added outside of the committee bill and the committee report in the dark of night, matters of transparency, additional points of order that would rest against the bill. This would be the first budget in which those things would have an opportunity to function. But let me just tell you about what I represent. I represent a state of 37.5 million people. It's the largest economic engine in the United States. We pay much more in taxes than we get back in federal services. I am importuned with 3,000 requests every year. I'm on the Appropriations Committee. Senator Leahy is on the Appropriation Committee. I try to prioritize them, see that they have a regional impact, they go for things like sewer systems, water, plugging leaking levees up in the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers. Water programs, sewer programs, interior programs, agriculture programs and on and on. Now, you can either say that the president is the only one that does a budget, and the Congress is entirely left out of it. The only way the Congress is in it is if the Congress can make selective and critical and prioritize adds to the budget.