Chris Murphy reverses course on earmark disclosure

JUST KIDDING - U.S. Representative Chris Murphy, at podium, broke his pledge of greater transparency in the so-called earmark process, where taxpayer money is used to fund pet projects.

Despite vows of greater openness and transparency in the House of Representatives, the overwhelming majority of the Democrat freshmen class remains silent on one of last year’s most contentious issues – earmarks, the process by which members of Congress use taxpayer money to fund pet projects.

At least one of those members, Connecticut’s Chris Murphy, D-CT, reversed an earlier pledge of greater “openness” and “transparency” of his funding requests.

A report published the day he was sworn into office said Murphy wanted earmarks eliminated; but if they weren’t, he would ensure “greater transparency” in the process.

“Elimination or reduction of earmarks would benefit Connecticut," Murphy told the Litchfield Times before heading to Washington, DC, to begin his first week in Congress. “I think a more competitive and open process for federal money would be to our benefit.”

According to that January 4, 2007, article “Assistant Attorney General Robert Marconi of Brookfield was among the more than 150 people who wished Mr. Murphy well as he prepared to be sworn into office in Washington.”

Marconi hailed Murphy’s pledge of earmark transparency. “I think that might be where the rubber meets the road on congressional reform during the early days of Congress,” he is reported as saying.

But Murphy now says he can’t publicly release his funding requests, telling the Connecticut Post he “had not sought permission from towns and organizations to disclose their federal funding requests.”

There is no requirement that Murphy garner permission before releasing information about the use of taxpayer money.

While Murphy has publicly reversed course, most of his freshmen colleagues have chosen to remain remain silent on calls for them to publicly release a list of project funding requests. The cable news station CNN recently contacted the offices of all 435 members of the House of Representatives, asking whether each would make such a list available.

“Despite the new Democratic congressional leadership's promise of ‘openness and transparency’ in the budget process,” they reported, “a CNN survey of the House found it nearly impossible to get information on lawmakers' pet projects.”

Only 34 of 435 offices initially provided CNN with a list of project requests.  One of those offices was U.S. Representative Chris Shays, the only member of Murphy's Connecticut delegation willing to allow public scrutiny of his funding proposals. 

Some freshmen, such as Pennsylvania’s Chris Carney and Wisconsin’s Steve Kagen, flat out refused CNN’s request. California’s Jerry McNerney at first told CNN he would not comply their request, but within days of their report, reversed course and made public his list of funding requests.

Most freshmen Democrats did not respond to CNN’s survey, while a handful, such as New York’s Kirsten Gillibrand, Nancy Boyda of Kansas, Minnesota’s Tim Walz, and all three Florida freshmen, released their list of pet projects.