EARMARKS ARE BACK.

• Author: Boehm, Eric
• Position: ECONOMICS

LAWMAKERS STUFFED MORE than 4,000 pet projects, totaling more than $8 billion, into an omnibus federal spending bill passed in March. But wait, didn't Congress ban earmarks back in 2011?

Yes, a Republican majority in 2011 banned earmarks, also called pork-barrel spending, in response to scandals like Alaska's $398 million "Bridge to Nowhere" and the earmark-related crimes of lobbyist Jack Abramoff. But because the rules Congress sets for itself apply only if Congress wants them to, the earmark ban has gone the way of other fiscally conservative reforms of the Tea Party era, such as discretionary spending caps.

That means federal taxpayers will contribute $1.6 million to a Roger Williams University program intended to promote the "development of equitable growth of shellfish aquaculture" in Rhode Island; $800,000 to help build "artist lofts" in California; a cool half million for a new ski jumping facility in New Hampshire; and $1.5 million for a new playground in San Francisco.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) secured funding for 142 projects, according to a list of earmarks compiled by Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.). Among the vital national interests that Schumer squeezed into the bill: $1.1 million for a "rail-trail," $3 million for the Brooklyn Museum, and $1.5 million for capital improvements at a Staten Island theater. While each of those line items is just a drop in the federal budget bucket, waste is waste.

Advocates for bringing back earmarks have argued for...