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Pelosi accused pork barrel { February 21 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/02/21/MN109779.DTLhttp://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/02/21/MN109779.DTL
Pelosi accused of pork-barrel politics
PAC treasurer's USF project tacked onto federal budget bill
Edward Epstein, Chronicle Washington Bureau
Friday, February 21, 2003
©2003 San Francisco Chronicle | Feedback
URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/02/21/MN109779.DTL
Washington -- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco has pushed through $1 million in federal funds for a think tank started by her longtime adviser and campaign treasurer, former Lt. Gov. Leo T. McCarthy, sparking concerns that she is rewarding a supporter with taxpayer money.
The $1 million appropriation for the Center for Public Service and the Common Good at the University of San Francisco was among thousands of items buried in the 3,000-page, $397.4 billion omnibus appropriations bill that Congress passed last week after just a few hours of debate. The White House says President Bush will sign the bill.
McCarthy, who serves as treasurer of Pelosi's powerful political action committee, PAC to the Future, is a USF alumnus who gave $1 million to start the center. In all, he hopes to raise $7 million to $8 million to fund the academic center.
Pelosi's office confirmed Thursday that the San Francisco Democrat, who was elected House minority leader in November, obtained the $1 million for the USF center, without requiring McCarthy and USF to go through the normal application process for such grants. But Pelosi said the program got the money on its merits, not because of any political ties to the congresswoman.
A LARGE AMOUNT OF PORK
Such largesse isn't rare in appropriations bills, especially for members with Pelosi's influence. But $1 million is larger than the usual bits of pork that are thrown into spending bills.
"It certainly gives the appearance of a conflict of interest," said Tom Schatz of Citizens Against Government Waste, a group that has campaigned against pork-barrel spending for years. "It's not a surprise, but it's disappointing that the new leader of the Democratic Party would want to set a bad precedent for how her members should behave. Now other members of the caucus will try to do the same."
Schatz's group last year named two other House members, Rep. Anne Northup, R-Ky., and Rep. Allan Mollohan, D-W.Va., "Co-Porkers of the Month" for finding money for projects in their districts tied to major political supporters.
"Projects may have merit, but it is the disproportionate realignment of our tax resources that we object to," he said.
'FUNDING EARMARKS'
Until she became minority leader, Pelosi was a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, the panel that annually adds thousands of "unrequested funding earmarks" at the request of individual senators and House members for projects back home.
Unrequested earmarks, which critics deride as pork-barrel spending, are added by members from both parties on the appropriations committees without first going through the committees that have jurisdiction over various federal departments and their budgets.
In addition to his work with Pelosi, McCarthy has been a regular donor to several other House Democrats, including Rep. David Obey of Wisconsin, who is now the ranking Democrat on the Republican-controlled Appropriations Committee.
McCarthy said he had neither spoken to nor written Pelosi "directly or indirectly" asking for the money.
"But I'm delighted she did it," the former three-term Democratic lieutenant governor said from San Francisco.
"She's acquainted with the center and what it's trying to do," he said. "It's a one-time thing and will constitute about one-eighth of the money for the center."
CENTER ALREADY OPERATING
The center, designed to get young people interested in careers in public service, is already operating, sponsoring symposiums. Its next big program will feature government and private whistle-blowers, including Jeffrey Wigand, the tobacco company researcher whose experiences were the basis for the movie "The Insider," and Colleen Rowley, the FBI agent who tried to alert the agency to a terrorist plot before the Sept. 11 attacks.
In a statement, Pelosi said the request came from the University of San Francisco, which "has a long history of educational excellence and innovation.
"This worthwhile program will benefit the Bay Area community and deserves to be funded, just as hundreds of others at universities across the country received similar funding," she said.
Two other San Francisco schools were earmarked in last week's spending bill.
City College of San Francisco was given $250,000 to help minority students complete their degrees and New College got $400,000 for programs in community studies, urban ecology and sustainability and spirituality and politics.
E-mail Edward Epstein at eepstein@sfchronicle.com.
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