GOP senators vote against their own earmarks

[beachFool]

GOP senators will vote against spending bill over earmarks -- theirs and others' - CNN.com

This is something out of Alice in Wonderland.

"Two prominent Republicans vowed Wednesday to vote against the $1.1 trillion spending bill, citing concerns over pork-laden pet projects, although millions of dollars of earmarks in the bill were requested by the two senators.

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas has requested 54 earmarks worth more than $170 million and Sen. John Thune of South Dakota has made 43 requests totaling more than $165 million, according to an analysis by Taxpayers Against Earmarks, Taxpayers for Common Sense and WashingtonWatch.com"

I was for the bill before I was against it...gotcha.

 

[Rita]

GOP senators will vote against spending bill over earmarks -- theirs and others' - CNN.com

This is something out of Alice in Wonderland.

"Two prominent Republicans vowed Wednesday to vote against the $1.1 trillion spending bill, citing concerns over pork-laden pet projects, although millions of dollars of earmarks in the bill were requested by the two senators.

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas has requested 54 earmarks worth more than $170 million and Sen. John Thune of South Dakota has made 43 requests totaling more than $165 million, according to an analysis by Taxpayers Against Earmarks, Taxpayers for Common Sense and WashingtonWatch.com"

I was for the bill before I was against it...gotcha.

.
Wonder why they didn't remove their earmarks from the bill? ..;-)


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[Matt J]

Sounds like someone is crawling up on the cross knowing they aren't getting nailed to it.

The bill will likely pass, but they'll use it as an "I was against earmarks" campaigning point.

 

[AndrewG]

Guess you're ok with the $48 Billion earmark by a single Democrat. You're focused on the pennies again.

 

[Linda]

Based on the following comments that Obama made after the last omnibus bill was passed I would hope that he would pull out his veto pen for this one - the buck stops with him.


http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2009/03/obama_to_unveil.html

Going forward, starting with next year's budget, Obama said, any earmarks should be required to meet strict standards. They should be aired at hearings and posted on lawmakers' websites in advance for public scrutiny. Any earmark for a for-profit private company should be subject to competitive bidding because they are most corrupting kind. "Furthermore, it should go without saying that an earmark must never be traded for political favors," he said.

"And finally, if my administration evaluates an earmark and determines that it has no legitimate public purpose, then we will seek to eliminate it, and we will work with Congress to do so," Obama vowed.

Besides limiting earmarks, the president called on Congress to pass appropriations bills separately and in an "orderly way" so that "massive, last-minute" omnibus bills such as this one aren't necessary.

 

[BeachSiO2]

Rita, that is a very good question and exactly what Orrin Hatch did.

Sen. Orrin Hatch has pulled the plug on scores of earmarks he championed earlier this year as part of the Republicans? new campaign against pet projects.

His decision, announced Monday, may only be symbolic if Congress just extends the current budget ? a move that would not fund any earmarks. But if Congress decides to pass a major budget bill before the end of the year, it may include thousands of earmarks, including dozens of the 256 requested by Hatch that add up to $1.2 billion.

 

[Smiling JOe]

Didn't the Republicans fill it with earmarks to try and keep the Dems from voting for it? It's just a game played on the Hill.

 

[BeachSiO2]

Didn't the Republicans fill it with earmarks to try and keep the Dems from voting for it? It's just a game played on the Hill.

No, these are requests that were made much earlier in the year when the House GOP had voted to not sponsor any earmarks. The Senate GOP voted to only sponsor earmarks that were going to public entities (governments, non-profits, etc.). Here is a link to the website that has all the information if anyone cares. There is one in the Energy and Water Development Section for Walton County but it was sponsored by Boyd and Nelson. ;-)

News

 

[BeachSiO2]

Saw this tidbit today that I thought was interesting...

The Senate?s omnibus spending bill includes $1.1 billion in earmarks requested by six GOP senators seen as swing votes on the 1,924-page bill, according to an analysis by The Hill.



Sens. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), George Voinovich (R-Ohio), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Kit Bond (R-Mo.) all have earmark requests included in the legislation, which is opposed by Republican leaders.


A sixth Republican, Sen Robert Bennett (R-Utah), who was defeated at his state?s GOP convention and will not be in the next Senate, has already said he will vote for the bill.

It will need at least three GOP votes to move it to a full vote as McCaskill (D-MO) will be voting against it as she is an earmark opponent.

 

[BeachSiO2]

Based on the following comments that Obama made after the last omnibus bill was passed I would hope that he would pull out his veto pen for this one - the buck stops with him.

In a new report...

Right Turn - Obama is fine with 6,000 earmarks