Yep, more and more proof that the Democrats are changing the way we do business in DC:
U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver likes earmarks.
His rule: If they come to his district, federal funds are well worth wrangling over, especially for infrastructure repairs and nonprofit causes.
But how does an East Coast software company qualify for a Cleaver earmark?
For two years, the Kansas City Democrat has secured earmarks totaling about $2 million with the aim of supplying a south Kansas City defense plant the latest in design software technology.
What seemed to him an easy chance to bring home some bacon, however, turned into a lesson on why earmarks are so controversial and difficult to follow.
For starters, the local plant he sought to help — the federally owned Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies Kansas City Plant — never asked for the money, plant officials said.
In fact, most of the public dollars are slated to go to Parametric Technology Corp., a for-profit software developer based 1,200 miles from Cleaver’s district.
“I’d never heard of that company in my life” until recently, said Cleaver, voicing agitation that a lobbying group may have used his appetite for earmarks to its advantage.
He didn’t know what the money was for, didn’t look in to who was asking for it – all he saw was some pork to help him purchase votes for his next re-election bid. And does anyone out there want to say this is the only example we could find?
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