Washington Times:
Signaling defeat, at least for the moment, Senate Democrats said Tuesday they won’t allow any earmarks in spending bills this year.
“The handwriting is clearly on the wall,” said Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel K. Inouye, Hawaii Democrat, in announcing the move.
While much of the rest of Washington was moving away from earmarks, Senate Democrats had resisted, with their leader, Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, defending them even after President Obama said last week he’d veto any bills that included earmarks.
But House Republicans had already said they wouldn’t allow any earmarks in bills, and since the GOP controls the lower chamber that meant senators would have had a tough time forcing them into legislation — and would have faced an Obama veto at the end anyway.
“Given the reality before us, it makes no sense to accept earmark requests that have no chance of being enacted into law,” Mr. Inouye said.
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This looks like a win for those who want to restrain spending by Congress. I think the GOP majority in the House will be forcing even more cuts to spending in the coming months.
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