Dear WTOP: Earmark Ban Won't Stop Pet Projects

News Editor, WTOP Radio

Washington, DC

Dear Sir or Madam:

You report Jan. 25 that "President Barack Obama's ban on earmarks in the $825 billion economic stimulus bill doesn't mean interest groups, lobbyists and lawmakers won't be able to funnel money to pet projects. They're just working around it."

This news is as surprising as January snow in Buffalo. As my colleague Russ Roberts points out, pork is as inseparable from government spending as it is from ham sandwiches.

Sincerely,

Donald J. Boudreaux

Don Boudreaux is the Chairman of the Department of Economics at George Mason University and a Business & Media Institute adviser.