"Earmarks" has become a bad word this political season, but our senior Congressman defends the practice.
West-Central Missouri Congressman Ike Skelton has, along with northeast Missouri Congressman Kenny Hulshof, secured $1.2 million for a multi-jurisdictional emergency communications system for mid-Missouri. They secured the funding through earmarks in a federal government spending bill.
Skelton says there was no chance of getting the money except through earmarks. Skelton sees nothing wrong with earmarks that have come under such derision this political season. He says he would not be able to secure money for many projects in his district without them. Skelton says no one is in a better position to know the needs of the 4th Congressional District than he is. He acknowledges earmarks have been abused, but says without them, many worthwhile projects would go unfunded.