As we all recently witnessed, the President has no qualms with earmarking appropriations in the federal budget, as long as they’re not for the “evil” private sector. Mr. Obama stated that “The awarding of earmarks to private companies is the single most corrupting element of this practice, as witnessed by some of the indictments and convictions that we’ve already seen.”

President Obama has explained that, “Private companies differ from the public entities that Americans rely on every day –- schools, and police stations, and fire departments.” What he failed to mention however, is the process by which these “public entities” as mentioned receive their piece of the federal pork pie. It’s called taxpayer-funded lobbying, and it’s the practice of state and local governments, universities, and other public authorities to hire Washington-insider lobbyists to raid the U.S. treasury and ensure more earmarks flow their way.

Throughout the 2007 legislative session, the Kansas Association of School Boards hired 13 lobbyists to push for more authority to increase sales taxes during the session. The idea was that the 295 school districts in the state that are members of KASB, would receive more funding if property taxes were increased. The problem however, was that not a single taxpayer voted for such authority to be granted. There was no measure on any ballot that allowed the KASB to use their property-tax derived money to hire lobbyists, who then would turn around and increase their income or property taxes. Not to mention that many of the districts hired their own state house lobbyists to increase the chances that expanded spending and property tax authority would be given to the districts.

Even scarier, is the fact that prior to the hiring of said lobbyists, the districts were already budgeted $275 per pupil, or over $5,000 more per 20 member classroom for 2008. On top of that, KASB wants more money than the already increased local property taxes authorizes. What that means is that if they have their way, the taxpayers will be paying to have their property taxes increased further.

The Center for Responsive politics reported that in 2008, lobbyists experienced a 14 percent jump in earnings. More than $3 billion was spent by their clients to schmooze, campaign, and influence legislation that no doubt would drive more tax dollars towards both the private entities the President has demonized, and the publicly supported organizations that supposedly get a free pass under this administration.

In 2003 Kansas State University, a tax payer-funded institution, reportedly spent $80,000 of taxpayer dollars to hire Van Scoyoc Associates to lobby on its behalf. The University of Kansas spent $40,000 to pay the same firm in 2005. In 2008; the Kansas City Area Transit Authority spent $40,000 for lobbying, paid to Patton Boggs, LLP.

These are just the tip-of-the-iceberg examples with regard to localities, cities, and states across the country spending tax payer dollars to lobby for even more tax dollars. On the federal level, earmarks completely bypass the state and federal agencies that comprise the bidding process normally reserved for funding at these levels. The appropriation process is being abused, and completely undermines the idea of appropriating monies to the justifiable recipient. Our tax dollars are continuously being used by special interests and the highest bidders to thwart the will of the very people that line their pockets, the tax payer.

Derrick Sontag is the state director of Americans for Prosperity-Kansas