A congressionally approved website devoted to earmark reform is on the verge of falling victim to a petty political fight on Capitol Hill. The House’s chief administrative officer, Dan Beard, today told Minority Leader John Boehner that the site, earmarkreform.house.gov, would have to come down because it doesn’t comply with House Administration Committee rules regulating congressional websites. Boehner is protesting the decision, questioning the timing of Beard’s decision and complaining that it amounts to a “gag order.” The site launched on Feb. 12, just weeks after a united House Republican …
Many conservatives have already voiced their displeasure with the House Republican leadership’s decision to appoint Rep. Jo Bonner (R-Ala.) to the Appropriations Committee instead of Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.). As righteous as conservative anger is over the decision, it might be more useful to look forward. After Bonner’s appointment was announced, Congressional Quarterly wrote a story, “Path to Appropriations May Not Follow Money.” The piece noted that under former Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), there was a pay-to-play system Republican members had to participate in to get on the Appropriations …
The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and New York Times all had major stories on congressional earmark spending today. But while the media are beginning to pay attention to the corruption of pork-barrel spending, the House leadership is still using earmarks as a political tool to reward loyal freshman members. And back home, members often face strong political pressure for taking a principled stand against wasteful spending. Enter Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), who represents the hard-working rural communities of California’s agriculturally rich Central Valley, including Reedley, Visalia and Tulare. Nunes …
According to the Los Angeles Times, “After Backlash, Berkeley Welcomes Marines,” and according to the Associated Press, “Berkeley Eases Anti-Marines Stance.” Nothing could be further from the truth. The San Jose Mercury News got it right: “Berkeley Council Becomes Home to Intolerance.” In order to arrive at their misleading headlines, here are just some of the facts the AP and LAT left out of their stories: The Berkeley City Council passed a resolution applauding residents and organizations that “volunteer to impede, passively or actively, by nonviolent means, the work of …
House Republicans scored a significant victory in their war on earmarks today when influential Democrat Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, broke with party leaders to call for an immediate moratorium on earmarks in 2009 spending bills. I think our best approach would be to suspend all earmarks for the 2009 appropriations cycle while we consider the right reforms for the earmark process. As a result, I will not submit any requests to the Appropriations Committee for this fiscal year. I look forward, however, to …
Rep. John Campbell (R-Calif.) stopped by the weekly Heritage bloggers’ lunch today in part to promote his Green Eyeshade blog at Townhall.com. Campbell is the House sponsor of the “Semper Fi Act,” which was first introduced in the Senate by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) to strip Berkeley, Calif., of more than $2 million in earmarks in response to a city resolution calling Marines “uninvited and unwelcome intruders.” [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2EemG5T14U[/youtube] Campbell used the controversy to highlight the great opportunity conservatives will have in the coming years to change “the bipartisan culture of …
House Republicans made a valiant stand on earmark reform today, falling just short in their effort to institute an immediate moratorium. By a vote of 204-196, the GOP’s procedural effort failed. Just seven Democrats voted with all Republicans: Reps. Joe Donnelley (Ind.), Tim Mahoney (Fla.), Baron Hill (Ind.), Brad Ellsworth (Ind.), Nick Lampson (Tex.), Nancy Boyda (Kan.) and John Barrow (Ga.). House Minority Leader John Boehner promised to carry on the fight. As Speaker of the House, Rep. Pelosi has the power to shut down the entire earmark process in …
Facing a potentially embarrassing defeat on earmarks tomorrow, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi finally decided to say something about Republicans’ request for an immediate earmark moratorium. In a letter to Minority Leader John Boehner tonight, Pelosi makes several misleading or downright inaccurate claims about the Democrats’ attempts to curtail earmarks. The letter arrived only after Boehner and Whip Roy Blunt promised a showdown over earmarks tomorrow on a bill to reauthorize a higher education program. Boehner and Blunt had grown frustrated by Pelosi’s unwillingness to even reply to their request for …
House Republican leaders were serious when they promised to hold Democrats accountable for ignoring the request for an immediate earmark moratorium. The first test will come tomorrow when Minority Leader John Boehner and Whip Roy Blunt plan to force an earmark reform vote on the higher education authorization bill. The legislation, which would reauthorize the Higher Education Act, is viewed by taxpayer watchdogs as a slush fund for colleges and universities. Boehner said it would serve as a good opportunity to put politicians to the test on earmarks. It’s become …
How can Congress both fight wasteful pork barrel spending and support our troops all at the same time? By backing Sen. Jim DeMint’s (R-SC) new bill the Semper Fi Act of 2008 which rescinds over $2 million in hidden earmarks for Berkeley, California in the 2008 Omnibus Appropriations bill, and transfer the funds to the Marine Corps. DeMint’s bill restores sanity to our nation’s priorities by denying $243,000 in taxpayer dollars to the five star restaurant Chez Panisse to prepare gourmet organic lunches for the Berkeley School District. Among other …
