Yet in all the years that people have wanted to stop the earmark process (publicly) they haven't been able to figure it out yet. The simplest solution would be a line-item veto. The President would then have the authority to pass a bill, yet veto parts out. This would have to be tweaked so as parts of a bill couldn't be vetoed out instead of simply vetoing earmarks, but with the political minds on capitol hill [hehTM] it should be easy.
I truly hope the Democratic (incoming) Congress is serious about eliminating the 'pork' projects from bills, history says they are not, but history doesn't rule today. If nothing else came of this 'revolution' by the voters, at least something good would come out of it.
PoliticsAfter reading the article, it seems maybe the congressmen quoted are more interested in playing politics than joining the President's proposal. But if the politics get to the same ends, maybe it will be ok.This is the most recent version of this article. View article history.
Bush Seeks to Halt Congress Pet ProjectsWASHINGTON - President Bush said Saturday that his administration will outline a series of changes that would clamp down on the common Capitol Hill practice of slipping pet projects into spending bills.
37 mins ago Bush Seeks to Halt Congress Pet Projects
These projects, called earmarks, are spending provisions that often are put into bills at the last minute, so they never get debated or discussed, Bush said in his weekly radio address.
"It is not surprising that this often leads to unnecessary federal spending, such as a swimming pool or a teapot museum tucked into a big spending bill," he said.
The president said his administration's proposal would make earmarks more transparent, make lawmakers more accountable for the earmarks they propose, and help reduce the overall number of earmarks. (link)
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Reason amongst the pork
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