CBS' Couric, Reid report omnibus is "loaded," "filled," and "stuffed" with earmarks, don't note they are less than 2 percent of bill
During the March 11 broadcast of the CBS Evening News, anchor Katie Couric stated that the omnibus spending bill was "filled with earmarks." Likewise, chief White House correspondent Chip Reid reported that the bill was "loaded with about eighty-five hundred pet projects known as earmarks, inserted by members of Congress without legislative review." But at no point during their report did Couric or Reid note that according to most estimates, earmarks constitute less than 2 percent of the bill's total spending. As Media Matters for America has noted, Taxpayers for Common Sense estimates earmarks in the bill total $7.7 billion -- or 1.9 percent of the total bill -- while Democrats estimate the number is $3.8 billion -- or 0.9 percent -- and the Republican staff of the House Appropriations Committee estimate the number is $5.5 billion -- or 1.3 percent.
