WASHINGTON — Confronting the nation’s mounting deficit, President Barack Obama is urging Congress to limit spending on pet home-state projects, while Republicans are challenging him to support an outright ban.
In his weekly radio and online address Saturday, Obama said that with the economy still struggling to recover from the recession, the U.S. cannot afford unnecessary spending on so-called earmarks, items lawmakers slip into spending bills without a full examination or debate.
“When it comes to signaling our commitment to fiscal responsibility, addressing them would have an important impact,” Obama said from Asia, where he was wrapping up a 10-day trip. However, Obama stopped short of calling for a full ban on earmarks, saying some of them “support worthy projects in our local communities.” While he said steps must be taken to limit wasteful spending, he offered no specific proposals for how to do so. The Associated Press
