As if the $15 billion in earmarks in the stimulus package was not bad enough, federal agencies have added insult to injury by skimming nearly $500 million off of the top of that.
Thirteen federal agencies took millions of dollars off the top of congressional earmarks for administrative expenses in 2008, nearly three percent of the total amount that members of Congress had directed to pet projects in federal spending bills, according to a report from the White House Office of Management and Budget. The report provides the first government-wide look at how much federal agencies keep from earmarked funds.
Read the rest of the NY Times article here.