Re “Congress Should Revive Earmarks” (editorial, Nov. 30):

Leaving aside whether a return of earmarks will bring comity to the Capitol, I want to clarify one aspect of your editorial promoting them.

While Democrats deserve credit for transparency reforms initiated in 2007, they did not propose limiting earmark beneficiaries to “nonprofit entities or public projects” until March 2010 and only in the House (the Senate refused to go along). Regardless, many for-profit companies found ways to skirt the House rules before the overall moratorium swept them all away in 2011.

But to dig a bit deeper on the issue, a Congressional Quarterly analysis of our earmark database found that Black and Hispanic Democrats in Congress got on average half the amount the average white Democrat got. They actually received less than the average Republican even though Democrats were in the majority. Political muscle trumped project merit.

If Congress chooses to revive earmarks, it has significant work to do to make the system truly transparent and fair.

Stephen Ellis
Washington
The writer is president of Taxpayers for Common Sense.