earmarks

New Hampshire Republican Chairman Fergus Cullen said Granite State voters should question why Barack Obama's campaign has not released a list of earmarks requested by Joe Biden.

"To be charitable, New Hampshire voters responded to Joe Biden with indifference both times he ran for president here; Biden dropped out before the New Hampshire primary in both 1988 and 2008 due to lack of support," Cullen said in a statement. "But this time New Hampshire voters are interested in learning more about Joe Biden, specifically about why the Obama campaign won't release Biden's earmark requests and why Biden believes that it is ‘patriotic' to pay more in taxes."

MANCHESTER-Former U.S. Rep. Jeb Bradley (R-Wolfeboro) and former Health and Human Services Commissioner John Stephen (R-Manchester) each used their closing statements to argue why they are the better candidate to face incumbent U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-Rochester).

Bradley said he is ready to face Shea-Porter, while Stephen said it was time for someone else to face the freshman congresswoman.

OSSIPEE- A loose format allowed former U.S. Rep. Jeb Bradley (R-Wolfeboro) and former Health and Human Services Commissioner John Stephen (R-Manchester) to participate in the fiercest debate this election cycle.

Bradley and Stephen were allowed to rebut each other and directly question one another Monday night at the debate sponsored by the Carroll County Republicans. The two touched upon issues ranging from energy to earmarks and the current situation in Georgia.

This year New Hampshire's congressional delegation requested money for 107 earmarks however The Nashua Telegraph finds that campaign donations played almost no role in the earmarking process.

"Earmarking" is when a member of the U.S. House or Senate specifies certain money of the federal budget go to a specific project. The process has come under scrutiny after several House members were convicted on corruption charges relating to earmarks.

Bob Schaffer now says he wants his party to fight against excessive spending and the use of earmarks. Is he forgetting something?

Representatives Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Dave Reichert have gone kosher and sworn off the pork. Which sounds admirable but also correlates to their effectiveness rating, and will likely get them less goodwill than a couple of good projects for their districts would have. On the other side, Rep. Norm Dicks won Citizens Against Government Waste’s “April Porker of the Month” for trying to get the Air Force to buy from Boeing. What nerve!