Thousands of earmarks denied
Good news today from Roll Call by way of the Club for Growth:
Despite professing their general support for passing a new veterans spending bill, conservatives hailed the decision to pass only a CR until February by noting how many earmarks they prevented from becoming law.That's is impressive. I hope we see a lot more of this kind of news, but I'm not getting my hopes up.“Senate conservatives have effectively blocked over 10,000 earmarks and are ready to work with Democrats (or hold them accountable when necessary) to continue this progress next year,” DeMint spokesman Wesley Denton wrote in an e-mail.
Denton added that Congress passed 12,852 earmarks in the fiscal 2006 spending bills and that by preventing “an earmark-laden omnibus bill, Senate conservatives have effectively cut the number by 80 percent, down to 2,600 earmarks, according to Citizens Against Government Waste.”
Comments
If they continue this behavior in 2007 and 2008, perhaps Republicans really did learn the lessons the country gave them at the ballot box last month.
This could all be for show, though, so I'm not holding my breath.
Posted by: Brad Warbiany | December 7, 2006 09:16 AM
It is sad though that they have to put a spin on passing a continuing resolution. Any time all budgets are not passed prior to 1 October, Congress has failed to do its job. This is at least the 2nd CR this session for veterans.
Posted by: Joe | December 7, 2006 07:50 PM