Editor s note: This is an opinion column. The writer, of Morristown, is director emerita of the Center for Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, and a member of the graduate faculty at the Edward J. Bloustein School. She can be reached at lstamato@ejb.rutgers.edu.
The disabling impasse that plagues Congress has prompted pundits, policy wonks and even the editors of the New York Times to support a return to earmarking in order to advance needed legislation.
The move should be roundly rejected. Earmarking is not, and never was, good public policy.
Earmarks, or, as some prefer, âfederal directed spending,â are funds awarded outside the ordinary budget process to favored projects in home districts by well-situated members of Congress.
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