EARMARKS….Congressional Democrats have announced that they aren’t sure it’s even worth trying to construct new spending bills after having the old ones delayed for so long by Republicans speeding for the exits after their midterm election loss. So they’re not going to, instead leaving the federal government on autopilot for the rest of the fiscal year.
I don’t know if this is a good idea or not. But I like this:
The announcement was made last night by the incoming chairmen of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, who also said they would impose a moratorium on new congressional earmarks, targeted appropriations for special projects in members’ home districts. None would be part of the proposed funding resolution, killing hundreds that are pending in the unfinished spending bills.
Italics mine. Since most of the earmarks are probably slated for Republican districts, this is both good policy and good politics. With any luck, they’ll follow this up with some real earmark reform when January rolls around.
