Like most of the Tea Party Republican House Class of 2010, Senator-Designate Tim Scott (R-SC) ran for Congress vowing to eliminate “earmarks” — the system Congressional lawmakers once used to direct federal spending to their districts. But a ThinkProgress examination of public records reveals that in his two years in Congress, he instead used an even less transparent method known as “lettermarking” to attempt to secure funding for his district.
In May 2011, just months after Scott was sworn in as a U.S. Representative and the new Republican House majority opted to ban earmarks, Scott joined four other South Carolina Congressmen in writing to Secretary of Energy Chu on behalf of a South Carolina manufacturer.
They wrote:
The purpose of this letter is to express our support for Robert Bosch LLC (Bosch) and the company’s recent response to DOE Funding Opportunity Number FOA000023900219 (Recirculated Exahust Gas Intake Sensor – REGIS). In addition, we are aware that Bosch’s partner in this application is Clemson University’s International Center for Automotive Research (ICAR). Bosch has been a committed and active member of the South Carolina manufacturing community since 1974.
View the letter below:
In May 2011, just months after Scott was sworn in as a U.S. Representative and the new Republican House majority opted to ban earmarks, Scott joined four other South Carolina Congressmen in writing to Secretary of Energy Chu on behalf of a South Carolina manufacturer.
They wrote:
The purpose of this letter is to express our support for Robert Bosch LLC (Bosch) and the company’s recent response to DOE Funding Opportunity Number FOA000023900219 (Recirculated Exahust Gas Intake Sensor – REGIS). In addition, we are aware that Bosch’s partner in this application is Clemson University’s International Center for Automotive Research (ICAR). Bosch has been a committed and active member of the South Carolina manufacturing community since 1974.
View the letter below:
The Department of Energy approved the application as requested, giving Bosch a $550,000 federal project.
But publicly, Scott backed a ban on earmarks, arguing that they were corrupt and wasteful. “Washington is filled with politicians who promise that they will deliver goodies to the folks back home. What those politicians don’t tell us is that by playing that game, they force the taxpayers of our district to pay for hundreds of billions of dollars in wasteful pork projects all over the country,” he observed in his 2010 campaign. He told his future constituents, “The earmark system leaves us with crumbs while others get the loaves.”
According to Taegan Goddard’s Political Dictionary, “lettermarking” occurs when lawmakers send letters to federal agencies requesting money for projects in their home district. While agencies are not obligated to comply with the requests, Reason’s Jacob Sullum notes, “agencies are loath to antagonize the legislators who approve their budgets, especially when they have added extra money with a specific project in mind.” These letters are only available to the public if someone happens to request them under the Freedom of Information Act.
More:
The GOP’s New ‘Anti-Stimulus’ Senator Sought Stimulus Funds
On Wednesday, ThinkProgress exclusively reported that Senator-Designate Tim Scott (R-SC) used a controversial method of securing federal contracts and grants for his district known as “lettermarking,” despite his supposed opposition to earmarks. A ThinkProgress review of newly obtained documents reveals that Scott also used the process to request stimulus funds for a pet South Carolina project — despite his public opposition to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and federal stimulus in general.
During his first campaign, he said that the 2009 stimulus had “failed Americans.”
Shortly after becoming a Congressman in 2011, he endorsed “elimination of any unobligated ‘stimulus’ funding.” And in a September 2012 statement, Scott said, “It is clear that the current path is unsustainable – stimulus spending doesn’t work and will not work.”
But, while he publicly attacked the stimulus, he wrote a May 2012 letter to Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood requesting almost $22 million in stimulus funding for renovation of railroad tracks in North and South Carolina:
It is my understanding that you will soon be making decisions on the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER IV) grant program. I am writing in support of a joint application submitted by Horry County, South Carolina, Carolina Southern Railroad (CSR) and Columbus County, North Carolina. The funding provided through this grant will be used to rehabilitate 89 miles of railroad tracks used by CSR that are in dire need of repair and/or replacement. Currently, these tracks are shut down because they do not meet the new Federal Railroad Authority bridge requirement.
Read the letter:
The TIGER IV grants were funded by the 2012 continuing resolution, but are effectively an extension a program created by the 2009 stimulus.
On his campaign website, Scott wrote, “The biggest challenge facing our nation today is the culture of spending that has taken over Washington, D.C. I have fought hard to change the conversation from ‘how much can we spend’ to ‘how much can we save’, and we have succeeded in beginning to change that mindset. However, there is still a lot of work left to be done.” “The time for pet projects and special favors,” he added, “is over.”
Read the letter:
The TIGER IV grants were funded by the 2012 continuing resolution, but are effectively an extension a program created by the 2009 stimulus.
On his campaign website, Scott wrote, “The biggest challenge facing our nation today is the culture of spending that has taken over Washington, D.C. I have fought hard to change the conversation from ‘how much can we spend’ to ‘how much can we save’, and we have succeeded in beginning to change that mindset. However, there is still a lot of work left to be done.” “The time for pet projects and special favors,” he added, “is over.”
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