The expectations were low for the Senate Fiscal Reform Working Group, so today’s proposal to bring greater transparency, debt reduction and oversight can’t be viewed as a total disappointment. It demonstrated that even some of the Republican Party’s biggest porkers acknowledge that the favor factory needs to be cleaned up. But as earmark warrior Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) said today, it should be viewed as a first step, not a final solution. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), a notorious appropriator, deserves praise for recognizing the problem with earmarks. The …
Despite “the most sweeping ethics reform since Watergate” and promises from the new House leadership to cut the number of earmarks in half, it appears the House is on its way again to absurd levels of pork-barrel spending. Roll Call reports that member earmark requests to the House Appropriations Committee website clogged with so many requests that the committee extended its request deadline until 11:59 p.m. on March 24. While conservative leaders such as Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) have recently been joined in the anti-earmark fight …
The list of members of Congress who have given up earmarks seems to grow by the day. According to the Club for Growth’s tally, it now totals 33 House members and seven senators. And despite the setback last week in the Senate, that hasn’t dissuaded members from coming out for a voluntary one-year moratorium. Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Wash.) announced last Friday in a YouTube video that he would voluntarily swear off earmarks this year. Reichert said he was proud to support the GOP’s call for a moratorium in January. But …
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 process. Supporters included the three presidential candidates, Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), Barack Obama (D.-Ill.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.). Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) also voted in favor of the amendment. DeMint managed to secure the support of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell …
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 have fallen so far is the complete erosion of their credibility on reigning in federal spending. When it comes to handling the federal budget deficit, the American public routinely tells pollsters they now trust Democrats on the issue. DeMint has …
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 the first Democrat to sign on to Sen. Jim DeMint’s amendment to freeze earmarks for one year. Her brave stand against pet projects doesn’t sit well with her party’s leadership. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) …
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 freeze, earmark opponents began to push back against the myths spread by appropriators and their lobbyist friends. The attacks, in news articles and on a prominent conservative listserv, accuse DeMint of trying to hurt local communities, diminish Congress’ power and …
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 threatening to derail the plan. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Budget Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) have vowed to stand in the way of the amendment, sponsored by Sens. Jim DeMint (R.-S.C.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.). …
As lawmakers return from a week-long vacation, here’s a preview of the week ahead in Washington. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIV4GwclIn0[/youtube] Now that Communist dictator Fidel Castro has departed as leader of Cuba after 49 years of uninterrupted tyrannical rule, conservatives want to see policies out of the U.S. government that promote freedom for the Cuban people and don’t reward a second Communist Castro regime. The Heritage Foundation will have a forum next Monday, “Who is Raul Castro? The Future of Cuba’s Revolution After Fidel,” with a spirited discussion of the need for democracy …
House Republicans aren’t giving in to order from the chief administrative officer to remove a website devoted to earmark reform. The site, earmarkreform.house.gov, remained active today despite an order from Dan Beard last week to shut it down. House Minority Leader John Boehner is defying Beard’s order until he gets a formal response from the chief administrative officer, according to Roll Call ($). A spokesman for Boehner called Beard’s decision “contradictory” because it reverses his office’s approval of the domain name last August. At issue is whether the domain name …
