Congressional Earmarks - Essay Example

The issue of earmarking or allocating funds to special projects by members of congress has been a major source of controversy, especially in the American elective politics. While there are those who argue for earmarking, there are a number of people who have indicated to the fact that this earmarking is not good, and that it opens the doors for corrupt deals by members of congress and their offices. Soft earmarks are those earmarking processes that allow the congressmen to be able to allocate this money, without having to conform to any legal binding.

This leaves a big loophole in the budgeting process, and the congressmen are able to take advantage of this and therefore make it difficult for any process to be utilized to hinder this. Having another body to control this process, will only add another layer of corruption and inconvenience, and will therefore never help. Since the American democracy is built around the constitution and the rule of law, embedding this issue in the law would be the only way to have a successful system, which will be able to make sure that earmarking is not abused by the members of congress.