The symbolic nature of the Senate’s budget authorization process lends itself to occasional gamesmanship, and Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO) took full advantage last night. Allard combed through Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-IL) many campaign promises and compiled a list of 188 new spending proposals that he then packaged together and offered …
Earmark reformers in the Senate failed to temporarily shut down the favor factory tonight, losing their vote for a one-year moratorium, 29-71. Appropriators managed to emerge victorious after nearly all Democrats voted against the measure. Just five Democrats voted for Sen. Jim DeMint’s (R-S.C.) amendment to temporarily freeze the earmarking …
The House Republicans have released an alternative to the Democrats’ budget. Instead of following the Democrats’ path of raising taxes by more than $3,000 per household to finance large spending hikes, the GOP would maintain current tax rates, repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax, and rein in runaway discretionary spending. Importantly, …
Republicans who want to credibly keep calling themselves conservatives should think long and hard before voting against Sen. Jim DeMint’s (R-S.C.) one-year earmark moratorium proposal today. New polling by NBC/WSJ shows Democrats have their largest advantage in party identification in years, 47% to 35%. A big reason why the Republicans …
The clock is ticking as the Senate prepares to vote on a one-year earmark moratorium. With appropriators and lobbyists mounting a last-ditch effort to save their pork-barrel projects, earmark warriors took the Senate floor to deliver passionate pleas for a temporary timeout. Sen. Claire McCaskill, a freshman from Missouri, was …
Appropriators and other opponents of a one-year earmark moratorium ratcheted up their defense of pork-barrel spending today, signaling that many in Congress were not ready to take a timeout from the corrupting practice of earmarking. With most of the attacks directed at Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), sponsor of the one-year …
The House budget that passed earlier this month increases discretionary spending by 8% (otherwise known as $74 billion) over this year’s level. Federal spending already tops out at near $25,000 per household and discretionary spending has expanded 45% since 2001. While increased defense spending for Iraq and Afghanistan do account …
A bipartisan effort to put a one-year freeze on earmarks has attracted the support of at least 14 senators, including each party’s presidential contenders, setting the stage for a showdown Thursday over wasteful government spending. Despite the surge in support over the past 24 hours, however, Senate Democrat leaders are …
The Senate budget resolution, which will be voted on later this week, is quite similar to the House budget resolution, which the Heritage Foundation analyzed yesterday. Heritage Foundation Senior Policy Analyst Brian Riedl notes: “While the House budget would raise taxes by $1.265 trillion over five years, and $3.911 trillion …
