Another reason why incumbents are in trouble:

Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) has sponsored earmarks totaling $497,591,000 this year, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense. Earmarks are a senator’s “gifts” to key constituencies in his or her home state. Earmarks buy votes, which help get incumbents re-elected, which leads to more earmarks.

Earmarks are an abuse of power and a waste of taxpayer money. While some are cheap and harmless (expanding a library), many are costly and wrong (a bridge to no where). Cochran leads all senators in earmarks this year, followed by:

Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI): $392,432,850.
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS): $368,039,000.
Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV): $292,014,000.
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA): $267,589,200.

All figures come from Taxpayers for Common Sense.

“Everybody does it,” is the excuse to justify earmarks. And in the Senate, that’s pretty much true: 84 senators have each spent more than $50,000,000 in earmarks this year and among those, 49 have each exceeded $100,000,000, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense.

But not every senator does it – eight senators have zero earmarks in 2010: Bayh (D-IN), Coburn (R-OK), DeMint (R-SC), Feingold (D-WI), Johanns (R-NE), LeMieux (R-FL), McCain (R-AZ) and McCaskill (D-MO), according to Taxpayers for Common Sense. In the House, only 43 representatives (too many to list here) out of 435 have zero earmarks so far in 2010.

Only these 51 incumbents (less than 10 percent of Congress) are not hypocrites – at least this year – since both Democrats and Republicans en masse decry earmarks while they perpetuate the practice. Both parties are guilty. Both parties shamelessly abuse their power.

Worse, the billions wasted is mostly borrowed money. Our national debt skyrockets as these reckless incumbents – seeking re-election above all else – add to the debt with earmarks. Our children are stuck with the bill – “generational theft” as Sen. McCain calls it.

Many Congressional incumbents deservedly will fall on election day. Let’s hope others are defeated next November. We can’t fire 500 members of Congress quickly, but they can all be fired in time. Their replacements had better heed the message: Show fiscal responsibility, or you too are out the door.