Republicans are conflicted over earmark ban

[DearAbby]

Tea party Republicans railed against earmarks this campaign season, and now that many tea partiers are headed to the Senate, longtime members of Congress are pushing for their first real shot at banning these member-directed spending provisions once and for all.

So why isn't everyone on board?

The Senate GOP leader, Kentucky's Mitch McConnell, is a conservative and longtime member of the Senate Appropriations Committee who has supported past bans on earmarks. But even he argues that earmarks--individual items that lawmakers personally insert into spending bills--serve a vital purpose for senators looking to bring home federal money to their constituents.

"The earmark issue is about discretion--about an argument between the executive branch and the legislative branch over how funds should be spent," McConnell said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." "There are many members of my conference who have said, 'I don't want the president to make all the decisions about how the funds are spent that might be allocated in my state.'"

McConnell reiterated much the same point on an appearance the same day on CBS's "Face the Nation"--and added that, contrary to claims from fellow conservatives, he doesn't believe an earmark ban will actually save any money.

More:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20101109/pl_yblog_upshot/republicans-conflicted-over-earmark-ban

[county worker]

1. If you don't need the government why are

"senators looking to bring home federal money to their constituents"?

It is a way to get votes by saying something to the stupid teabaggers that in reality will never happen.

[Scurrilous]

2. K & R

:thumbsup:

[louis-t]

3. Restoopicans are conflicted about a lot of things.

[sadbear]

4. When have they ever been conflicted about saying one thing and doing another?

[gulliver]

5. They left it out of the Pledge

I think it will be up to Dems to bring it up and, hopefully, get video of Republicans fighting to keep it in.

[Swamp Rat]

6. The GOP hypocrites are conflicted by the term 'earmark', because they turned into a dirty word,

yet they want to employ it for themselves now.

Oh well, since their based has an average IQ of 90 and a 20 second attention span they'll figure something out.