The criticism of federal budget "earmarks," led by Republican presidential front-runner Sen. John McCain, shouldn't hurt efforts to get full funding for South Dakota projects such as the Lewis and Clark and Mni Wiconi water projects, Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said.

Thune, who is actively campaigning for McCain, said he admires the Arizona Republican for not requesting or accepting "earmark" type projects for his home state.

Earmarks, often funds designated by Congress for specific projects in lawmakers' home states, are criticized because they don't go through the same process for approval as other federal funds and because they may take away from national priorities.

"He's very principled about that," Thune said in a conference call with reporters Wednesday.

But under the Constitution, Congress - not the executive branch - has the responsibility to fund the so-called earmark projects, Thune said.

"I don't think you can just punt everything down to the administration and let the agencies make decisions about where some of this funding goes," Thune said.

But Thune said he agrees with McCain that Congress should reform the earmark process, which the public perceives is corrupt.

"Too often, you hear about earmarks that somebody made a campaign contribution to somebody, and the public is connecting the dots," Thune said.

He said earmark projects sometimes are slipped into other bills at the last minute without being debated in committee or voted upon by the full House and Senate.

"That's where we end up with the bridge to nowhere and some of the other more blatant abuses of the process," he said.

But Thune said he stands by the projects he supports for South Dakota, including the Lewis and Clark, Mni Wiconi and Perkins County water projects.

"I think they are things that we expose to the light of day and are accomplishing important public purposes, especially related to infrastructure."

President Bush's 2009 budget contains no money for the Lewis and Clark project or the small Perkins County project and sharply reduces the money for building the ongoing Mni Wiconi water project in western South Dakota.

Thune said he was "extremely disappointed" that the president's budget zeroed out Lewis and Clark. He, Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., and Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D., have vowed to get the funding restored.

Thune on Wednesday called the president's budget merely a recommendation. "It's up to Congress now to produce a budget that funds federal programs for the coming fiscal year. Our priorities may be different from the president's," he said.

Contact Steve Miller at 394-8417 or steve.miller@rapidcityjournal.com