Lawmakers may not be giving up earmarks en masse, but the negative stigma of pork-barrel spending has rubbed off on some members of Congress. In the Senate, conservative champion Jim DeMint and veteran appropriator Ted Stevens clashed openly during a meeting late last year. DeMint acknowledged that his quest to …
The Politico reports today that fiscal conservatives face several hurdles in their quest to end earmarks, not the least of which is that “Democrats last year actually approved fewer earmarks than Republicans did when they ran Congress.” A closer look at the numbers reveals that isn’t exactly true. Liberals are …
According to The Hill, President Bush will face a key test on federal spending when he returns from his Middle East trip wrapping up in Egypt today. At issue is a movement by conservative budget watchdog groups supporting an Executive Order from the president directing federal agencies not to spend …
Just days after releasing a plan to reduce government spending, Fred Thompson continued his assault on earmarks, promising today that if elected president he would sign an executive order canceling lawmakers’ pork-barrel projects. President Bush is considering the idea, which is strongly opposed by congressional appropriators but supported by fiscal …
A day after his victory in the New Hampshire primary, Sen. John McCain spoke with bloggers about a variety of issues, including the option of a presidential executive order canceling earmarks in the omnibus spending bill. Erick Erickson of RedState posed the question to the Arizona senator, who has long …
Heritage’s Mike Franc breaks down the debate over pork-barrel spending and makes the case for President Bush to end earmarks in our latest Heritage in Focus video. Franc highlights one of the nearly 10,000 earmarks in the omnibus bill: a gas station in the Ohio district of Rep. Dave Hobson.
