Democrats first move: No more earmarks until reform. - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Superbelt · 12-12-2006, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Democratic leaders declared a temporary moratorium on special-interest provisions known as earmarks as they attempt to cope with a budget crisis left by the outgoing Republican-led 109th Congress.

Congress adjourned early Saturday, having completed work on two of the 11 spending bills for the 2007 fiscal year that began Oct. 1. As a short-term fix, lawmakers extended current funding levels until Feb. 15. But the incoming Democratic chairmen of the House and Senate Appropriations committees announced yesterday that they would extend current levels until the 2008 fiscal year begins next Oct. 1.

The alternative was to attempt to finish work on the spending bills when the Democratic-led Congress convenes in January, a dreaded prospect that could have derailed Democratic legislative efforts and stirred up policy battles around the same time that President Bush is due to submit his fiscal 2008 budget to the Hill, along with a large supplemental spending request for the Iraq war.

The new chairmen, Rep. David R. Obey (Wis.) and Sen. Robert C. Byrd (W.Va.), said in a statement: "While the results will be far from ideal, this path provides the best way to dispose of the unfinished business quickly, and allow governors, state and local officials, and families to finally plan for the coming year with some knowledge of what the federal government is funding."

They also said they would place a moratorium on all earmarks until lobbying changes are enacted. Those special spending provisions included in the unfinished fiscal 2007 bills will be eligible for consideration next year, the chairmen said, subject to new standards.

"We will work to restore an accountable, above-board, transparent process for funding decisions and put an end to the abuses that have harmed the credibility of Congress," the chairmen said.

The unfinished bills account for about $463 billion in annual spending and include just about every domestic program other than defense and homeland security.

The announcement appears to be a victory for conservative budget reformers, such as Reps. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) and Tom Price (R-Ga.), who circulated a petition last week calling for a resolution that would extend funding through the rest of the year, but without earmarks. That petition, however, called for all domestic programs to be funded at the lowest levels called for in either the House or Senate versions.

In contrast, Obey and Byrd indicated that they would seek adjustments in spending levels to satisfy Democrats and moderate Republicans who were upset by the austere funding bills passed by the House Appropriations Committee. In particular, the measure to fund labor, health and education programs fell billions of dollars short of the Senate-approved levels, and the levels that even many House Republicans said were acceptable.

The biggest victory would be for those lawmakers who have crusaded against earmarks, or home-district pet projects. Virtually all of the bills that pass the Senate and House appropriations committees contain such projects. For the fiscal year that began in October and will end Sept. 30, the slate will be wiped clean.

Obey and Byrd noted that the last time Congress passed all appropriation bills separately and on schedule, and got them signed by the president in time for the next fiscal year, was in 1994, the last year they both served as chairmen. In November 1994, a month after the 1995 fiscal year began, Republicans won control of Congress.

For more or less every year since the takeover, the GOP has struggled to produce a smooth succession of spending bills, creating strained relations between the more ideologically minded Republican leadership in both chambers and their more practical-minded appropriations colleagues. Most recently, the Senate has been the stubborn obstacle, with Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) refusing to advance spending bills during a hard-fought election year.

Those tensions bubbled to the surface on the House floor as lawmakers wrapped up their business early Saturday. "The breakdown of regular order this cycle, indeed the failure to get our bills done, should be fairly placed at the feet of the departing Senate majority leader," said Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.), the outgoing House Appropriations Committee chairman.

Lewis noted that his panel passed each of the 11 subcommittee bills out of the full committee by June 30, and, with the exception of a giant bill that funds health and education programs, all of the bills off the House floor by the July 4 break. The Senate also passed each of its bills out of the full committee, only to see them run aground on the Senate floor.

Can't think of a better first step.
Being second only to Ted Stevens in pork, this is good to hear from Byrd.
It's going to hurt a bunch of people in the short term- Consulting, contractors and construction, because of projects being suspended.
But I like it overall.

Seaver · 12-12-2006, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Can't think of a better first step.

Weird... I agree with Host?

Yes, the earmarking/Christmas tree thing needs to end. I don't care about that 50 million dollar bridge in Alaska, it never belonged in any military forces budget bill.

Both sides have been guilty of this from the beginning, hopefully this will go through in an actual law and end it forever.

Superbelt · 12-12-2006, 04:29 PM

Superbelt = host

loquitur · 12-12-2006, 06:57 PM

never ever ever gonna happen. Not convincingly, anyway. Politicians just can't help themselves. This is the only kind of corruption that is perfectly legal. Gingrich promised to stop it when the Repubs took over and it took only a few years before they outdid the Dems who preceded them. Nancy Pelosi won't succeed where Gingrich failed. I hope I'm wrong. Then again, I'm a lawyer, and I can find a loophole in almost anything, so color me cynical.

mo42 · 12-12-2006, 10:04 PM

I agree with loquitur on this one- it'd be nice if they actually held to it, but I don't think it's going to happen. Best case, I think, is a decrease for a year or so, but then they'll be right back at it.

Marvelous Marv · 12-12-2006, 11:24 PM

I'd vote Democratic if they managed to improve the mess called earmarks. It's not going to happen, though.

And NO ONE beats Robert Byrd in terms of pork.

Elphaba · 12-13-2006, 11:29 AM

Another cynic chiming in. The Dems need only kill earmarks for two years, and I suspect they know that.

Seaver · 12-13-2006, 04:12 PM

Oh, Superbelt, sorry for the mistake.

Mondak · 12-13-2006, 08:15 PM

Boy this would be VERY exciting if it were true! Sadly, I bet the moratorium is just long enough to shut down the other guys pet projects until they can get their own in the queue. These guys are just snakes of a different color unfortunitly.

Sure was a nice article. Gave me hope for a second. . .

AVoiceOfReason · 12-19-2006, 12:54 PM

Yes, I wish the cynic in me would shut up and let me enjoy this. But "fiscal sanity" and "Democrat party" just don't go hand in hand.

Nor did the former apply to the Republican party, either, over the past several years.

12-12-2006, 10:04 PM	#5 (permalink)
mo42 Insane Location: California	I agree with loquitur on this one- it'd be nice if they actually held to it, but I don't think it's going to happen. Best case, I think, is a decrease for a year or so, but then they'll be right back at it. __________________ It's not getting what you want, it's wanting what you've got.

12-12-2006, 11:24 PM	#6 (permalink)
Marvelous Marv Cunning Runt Location: Taking a mulligan	I'd vote Democratic if they managed to improve the mess called earmarks. It's not going to happen, though. And NO ONE beats Robert Byrd in terms of pork. __________________ "The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money." Margaret Thatcher

12-13-2006, 04:12 PM	#8 (permalink)
Seaver Junkie Location: Fort Worth, TX	Oh, Superbelt, sorry for the mistake. __________________ "Smite the rocks with the rod of knowledge, and fountains of unstinted wealth will gush forth." - Ashbel Smith as he laid the first cornerstone of the University of Texas

12-13-2006, 08:15 PM	#9 (permalink)
Mondak Industrialist Location: Southern California	Boy this would be VERY exciting if it were true! Sadly, I bet the moratorium is just long enough to shut down the other guys pet projects until they can get their own in the queue. These guys are just snakes of a different color unfortunitly. Sure was a nice article. Gave me hope for a second. . . __________________ All truth passes through three stages: First it is ridiculed Second, it is violently opposed and Third, it is accepted as self-evident. ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER (1788-1860)

12-19-2006, 12:54 PM	#10 (permalink)
AVoiceOfReason Psycho Location: Greenwood, Arkansas	Yes, I wish the cynic in me would shut up and let me enjoy this. But "fiscal sanity" and "Democrat party" just don't go hand in hand. Nor did the former apply to the Republican party, either, over the past several years. __________________ AVOR A Voice Of Reason, not necessarily the ONLY one.

12-12-2006, 04:29 PM	#3 (permalink)
Superbelt This vexes me. I am terribly vexed. Location: Grantville, Pa	Superbelt = host

12-12-2006, 06:57 PM	#4 (permalink)
loquitur Junkie Location: NYC	never ever ever gonna happen. Not convincingly, anyway. Politicians just can't help themselves. This is the only kind of corruption that is perfectly legal. Gingrich promised to stop it when the Repubs took over and it took only a few years before they outdid the Dems who preceded them. Nancy Pelosi won't succeed where Gingrich failed. I hope I'm wrong. Then again, I'm a lawyer, and I can find a loophole in almost anything, so color me cynical.

12-13-2006, 11:29 AM	#7 (permalink)
Elphaba Deja Moo Location: Olympic Peninsula, WA	Another cynic chiming in. The Dems need only kill earmarks for two years, and I suspect they know that.