It’s no secret that current Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA-08) is the King of Earmarks. A recent Washington Post article states Moran receives more in campaign contributions (i.e. $70,000) from his earmark recipients than any other House member. With the passing of his partner in crime, John Murtha, Moran has no rival when it comes to earmarks. In fact, Moran is quite proud of his status. In 2006, he said “When I become chairman [of a House appropriations subcommittee], I’m going to earmark the shit out of it”.
Current GOP primary contender and BD endorsed, Matthew Berry, properly calls earmarks a “gateway drug” to more spending. Despite the earmarks themselves being a small percentage of the budget, they behave as incentive tokens among lawmakers to pass each other’s bills based on favors rather than merit, which in turn drives up deficit spending even more.
As the gerrymandered 8th district has continued to become more blue, Moran’s perceived invincibility has grown as well. From beating up people, to spewing anti-Semitic remarks and dishonoring the US military, Jim Moran is an embarrassment to the 8th district and with his corrupt pay-to-play practices epitomizes what Joe Citizen hates about politicians. Nevermind that Moran was 1 of 15 Congressman who thought it was appropriate in the current economy to vote to give himself a raise. How much more out of touch can our representative be?
