Republican Crusade on Earmarks Undermined By Republicans
Republican Crusade on Earmarks Undermined By Republicans
This week, conservative leaders went on a retreat to discuss an earmark reform plan led by Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) that “may include a moratorium on earmarking until 2009.” Yesterday, in his State of the Union address, President Bush called on Congress to cut earmarks in half.
Behind the curtains, however, many conservatives are finding that old habits die hard. Several Republican appropriators complain that “Boehner is going too far.” Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) said he “is not about to embrace a mandatory reduction in earmarks.” David Hobson (R-OH) ripped his party’s leaders: “It’s kind of an emotional thing they’re trying to do…it’s a PR move.”
This morning, Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), a sponsor of the earmark moratorium legislation, ranted about the attention the internal squabbling is receiving:
You know, as those debates have gone on, it is amazing to me, Mr. Speaker, to look at the morning headlines here in Washington, DC. It shows the difference between the Muncie Star Press and newspapers out here. ‘Earmarks, page 1.’ ‘The focus on the President’s sudden severity is drawing bipartisan criticism.’ Roll Call says ‘earmarks still roil the GOP.’ And the Politico, not to be outdone, repeats the exact same headline, ‘Earmark Debate Roils GOP ranks.’
It’s only in Washington, DC where one party engages in a vigorous debate about how we restore public confidence in the federal budget process that the focus, then, is on the debate in the party that wants to bring about change.
Watch it:
The conservatives’ political posturing over earmarks seems purely an effort to get headlines without actually bringing about change. When Rep. David Obey (D-WI) just last month proposed whacking “an estimated 9,500 earmarks worth about $9.5 billion” from an omnibus spending plan, he ran into deep opposition from conservatives. Conservative bloggers even criticized their party for not supporting the plan.
Read more on the 110th Congress’s strides in reducing wasteful spending here.
UPDATE: TPM’s Paul Kiel writes, “It’s pretty safe to say that before the Bush administration, most Americans had no idea what an earmark was. But Bush, the earmark president, the man who presided over and enabled the Republican Congress during the Jack Abramoff and Duke Cunningham scandals, changed that.”
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It seems to me that the 109th Congress, DOMINATED by Repugs shamelessly took earmarks to unprecedented heights.
January 29th, 2008 at 1:43 pmGood on Boehner, I double dog dare him to sign a moratorium on pigging and show people what a fiscal conservative may look like.
January 29th, 2008 at 1:45 pmOf course the Repigs are vigorously opposed to a reduction in earmarks….FOR NOW. They can sense their party swirling around the toilet (particularly the longtimers) and it’s time for “last dibs” on pork. Once the Dems hold a substantial majority in both Houses you’ll see the few CONservs left crying to halt earmarks and pull back on “wasteful” spending.
January 29th, 2008 at 1:46 pmi don’t know why you refer to them as “conservatives”…
January 29th, 2008 at 1:46 pmToo rich. After 7 years of marching in lock-step and shoveling down whatever bile W and Rove spilled their way, the Commander in Chief has decided to kill the goose that lays those golden Congressional eggs.
Now, if we’d just take on Pentagon spending (which is more than all other nations COMBINED), we might actually not have to borrow money from China and our ‘allies’ in the Middle East.
January 29th, 2008 at 1:48 pmThe Pogo Principle rears its head again. We have met the enemy, and he is us.
January 29th, 2008 at 1:49 pmImpeach Cheney and Bush and Save the Constitution!
Republican Crusade on Earmarks Undermined By Republicans
What a shock, the members of the party of the “I got mine, scr3w you” are unwilling to cooperate giving up their pork.
January 29th, 2008 at 1:50 pmThe “Culture of Corruption” is FINALLY coming home to roost.
January 29th, 2008 at 1:51 pmThis kind of change is painful. Who likes pain? (a good spanking never hurts)
January 29th, 2008 at 1:51 pmNext the GOPigs will come out against illegal war, cronyism, corruption and greed……NOT.
January 29th, 2008 at 1:54 pmGreat piece, Satyam.
You guys don’t always get enough credit, but this is a bulls-eye. Republicans being hypocrites about being hypocrites. And whining.
Sweet.
January 29th, 2008 at 1:56 pmWhat’s up with Republicans and their Crusades? The Crusade on Terror, the Crusade on Earmarks. Don’t these people learn from history? In the end they’re just going to get defeated by the Kurds!
January 29th, 2008 at 1:56 pmThe GOP’s earmark reform plan :
Everything that we want ; nothing the Dems and/or the American people want.
January 29th, 2008 at 1:57 pmEarmarks were a good thing when Repukians were in-charge of congress, but they are not so happy when the Dems are in control. Even though the Dems have reduced the Earmarks, it is still not enough, they need to get rid of the pork and make those items stand on their own merit.
Buck Fush
January 29th, 2008 at 1:59 pmI love it. The Republicans are suddenly the party trying to do something about earmarks. Riiiight. Because when they controlled Congress, they wanted to do something about it, but the evil Democrats stopped them. Hysterical.
January 29th, 2008 at 2:00 pmRep. Mike Pence (R-OH), a sponsor of the earmark moratorium legislation, ranted about the attention the internal squabbling is receiving:
Repukes, it seems, are more concerned about the attention their squabbling gets than they are about passing meaningful legislation.
What a bunch of hypocritical bozos.
January 29th, 2008 at 2:01 pmDo as we SAY, not as we DO.
Like…DUH.
January 29th, 2008 at 2:03 pmI triple dog dare these free market enablers of corporate, nanny state welfare, to make a moratorium and prove to the people that they are responsible, fiscally, ethically and economically!!
The pork barrel pigs must stand on their own two feet and not squeal at the taxpayer teat!
The crusaders must defeat DooH NiboR economics if this great nation is to survive the curse of empires!!
January 29th, 2008 at 2:04 pmThere must be a 12-step program we can put these schmucks in?
January 29th, 2008 at 2:13 pmThere must be a 12-step program we can put these schmucks in?
Comment by Doc Rock — January 29, 2008 @ 2:13 pm
Yeah
It’s called “Federal Prison”………
January 29th, 2008 at 2:14 pmBut how is Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) going to get his house remodeled now?
January 29th, 2008 at 2:27 pmThis week, conservative leaders went on a retreat to discuss an earmark reform plan led by Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) that “may include a moratorium on earmarking until 2009.â€
What this really means is let’s make Bush happy and then all bets are off once we have a new president. If it’s a Republican, then we go back to business as usual. If it’s a Democrat, we will have to come up with a new game plan.
January 29th, 2008 at 2:46 pmIf it looks like a pig, smells like a pig, squeals like a pig. then…
January 29th, 2008 at 2:47 pmIf it looks like a pig, smells like a pig, squeals like a pig. then…
Comment by celtic cynic — January 29, 2008 @ 2:47 pm
January 29th, 2008 at 2:50 pmIt must be our president’s mother.
Mike Pence of INDIANA’s 6th District… and a conservative crazy.. but for accuracy’s sake, a Hoosier crazy.
January 29th, 2008 at 3:02 pm#
There must be a 12-step program we can put these schmucks in?
C
Yes, the 12 steps up to the hangman’s noose on the gallows. However, the Democrats could have looked a lot better on the issue had they taken the bull by the horns and really cut back on earmarks on their own. The progress had been but modest when bold action was required.
January 29th, 2008 at 3:05 pmYes, the 12 steps up to the hangman’s noose on the gallows. However, the Democrats could have looked a lot better on the issue had they taken the bull by the horns and really cut back on earmarks on their own. The progress had been but modest when bold action was required.
Comment by JMOHR — January 29, 2008 @ 3:05 pm
January 29th, 2008 at 3:07 pmUmmm , it would have looked a lot better if Chimpy and Dickhead Cheney were rightfully impeached and imprisoned…………..
Sounds similar to the immigration fiasco. Problem is they could twist and turn immigration into something ugly, but pork is pork, and there is no disguising that.
January 29th, 2008 at 3:16 pmNew Idea: all earmarks must be listed on a congressional website for at least 30 days before its vote, with the sponsor’s name and dollar amount. Let the sunshine be the disinfectant to rid us of the pork.
January 29th, 2008 at 3:26 pmIn separate articles, both Ted Stevens and Thad Cochran effectively say, “Don’t you dare touch my earmarks!”
Senate 2008 Guru
January 29th, 2008 at 3:27 pmHahhha! I thought this was an Onion headline for a moment. I would be so sick and weary unto death of this foolishness if it weren’t so laughable.
January 29th, 2008 at 3:59 pmAm I wrong? Prior to Bush, earmarks were merely called “pork barrel spending” The term “earmarks was introduced to the public like many of Frank Luntz’s euphomisms because it sounds better.
January 29th, 2008 at 4:00 pmMike Pence also compared Baghdad to an Indiana county fair.
I guess they’re related somehow…wait, pigs have ‘earmark’ tags to identify them. Earmarks & pigs are both pork.
Mike Pence is a GOPiglet.
Ah Ha! Now I see. Pence is comparing himself to pigs at the fair.
January 29th, 2008 at 4:20 pmPork is the only reason he get’s reelcted. I’m from his district and the pecuilar thing is I dont know anyone that will admit to voting for him.
January 29th, 2008 at 9:23 pm