Topic: Earmarks

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Top 10 senators seeking earmarks

The omnibus spending bill died Thursday in the Senate amid controversy over the practice of earmarking, or inserting funding for pet projects into legislation. Here are the senators who sought the most spending for their states, ranked by the monetary value of proposed earmarks, whether alone or with others.
Senate's 16 new members arrive on Capitol Hill: Who are they?

Starting this Monday, the Senate welcomes 16 fresh faces to the Capitol’s marbled halls.
5 famous pork projects: Beer museum and more

Coined from an 1863 story called “The Children of the Public,” pork-barrel spending referred to any public funds spent to benefit the public. Over time, the term has evolved, referring to projects seen as wasteful, or that may only benefit a small group but the costs are spread out between all taxpayers. Of course, often, one politician's pork is another politician's legitimate expense.
The Citizens Against Government Waste puts out an annual "Congressional Pig Book" that listed 9,129 projects at a cost of $16.5 billion in 2010..
Here a selection of US "pork" projects from recent years:
Gallery: Retiring senators

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Senate passes highway bill, but rough road ahead in House

After years of delay, the Senate passes a two-year highway bill to help fix the nation's roads, bridges, rails, and ports. But rifts in the House could delay passage.
A Mitt Romney-Rick Santorum ticket? Don’t rule it out.

As Republicans in Alabama and Mississippi go to the polls, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum are hurling insults at each other. But they could still be on the GOP ticket together.
At CNN debate, Rick Santorum skewered over 'bridge to nowhere'

GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum took a pounding from rivals over his Senate record, during the CNN debate Wednesday. MItt Romney reminded voters of Santorum's vote for the so-called 'bridge to nowhere.'
The Vote
Is Rick Santorum the new Teflon candidate to whom nothing sticks?

Mitt Romney and Ron Paul are spending millions on ads to attack the surging Rick Santorum. But he's proving to be an elusive target, as social conservatives endorse many of his positions.
As government shutdown looms, lawmakers squabbling over policy, not pork

Time was, an 11th-hour omnibus spending bill to avoid a government shutdown was an invitation for members of Congress to push through pork projects. This year the tussle is over policy riders.
Ethanol vote: First step toward extinction for federal tax subsidies?

Sen. Tom Coburn's bid to end tax subsidies for ethanol failed. But the measure got 34 GOP votes, suggesting that many Republicans are open to eliminating tax breaks to trim the deficit.
Tax VOX
Tax expenditures are not loopholes

Millions of taxpayers benefit from tax breaks, like some itemized deductions. Calling such broad provisions "loopholes" or "earmarks" incorrectly characterizes what they really are.
The Vote
House passes bill to avert government shutdown. What's in it, exactly?

Washington has managed to avoid a government shutdown, for the moment. In general, the bill keeps government spending for most discretionary programs at last year’s level, until March 18.
Two vulnerable senators, two opposite paths on tea party

Republican Sens. Richard Lugar of Indiana and Orrin Hatch of Utah could face tea party challenges in their 2012 primaries. But while Hatch is embracing the tea party, Lugar is fighting it.
Behind closed doors, bipartisan bids to break budget impasse

The words of Republican and Democratic leadership on Capitol Hill suggest Congress is headed for a government shutdown over budget issues. But several bipartisan groups of rank-and-file senators are seeking to find a solution.
Tea Party Caucus in Senate very small, very enthusiastic

Tea Party Caucus: What the caucus and audience lacked in size they made up for in enthusiasm and energy. New Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., fired up the crowd along with Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., by preaching the gospel of deficit reduction
Stopgap spending bill clears Congress. What happens next?

Passage of the spending bill, which goes to Obama for signing, averts a midnight government shutdown. It also leaves the bitter fight over spending to the next Congress.
Top 10 senators seeking earmarks

The omnibus spending bill died Thursday in the Senate amid controversy over the practice of earmarking, or inserting funding for pet projects into legislation. Here are the senators who sought the most spending for their states, ranked by the monetary value of proposed earmarks, whether alone or with others.
Tea Party Tally
Collapse of the omnibus spending bill: rise of the 'tea party Congress'?

Some see ideals of tea party movement at play in Senate, after a huge spending bill loaded with earmarks is scuttled after GOP lawmakers thought twice about it.
Deficit reduction: Why it may not be dead despite the costly tax cut deal

The tax cut deal that President Obama signed Friday costs $858 billion, making the cause of deficit reduction that much more challenging. But deficit hawks still see some hopeful signs.
With big spending bill's demise, is 'earmark' new dirty word on Hill?

Deficit hawks and watchdog groups see Thursday's demise of an omnibus spending bill in the Senate as a turning point. A critical mass of lawmakers, they say, are committed to an earmark ban.
Will Harry Reid keep the Senate in session through Christmas?

Senate majority leader Harry Reid wants to take up a slew of important issues after the tax deal is passed – from a $1.2 trillion budget bill to a repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell.'
Washington best prepare for an age of WikiLeaks

America must find new ways to plug the kind of holes that led to the WikiLeaks release of US secrets -- or else it must learn to live in a more open Internet age and better manage the fallout.
What can lame-duck Congress get done? Seven items on to-do list.

The lame-duck Congress returns to session Monday with a laundry list of things to do. Avoiding a government shutdown is top on the list. But there are other important items, too.
How earmark ban is already changing Capitol Hill

In many ways, the Republicans' voluntary two-year earmark ban is limited in scope. But it's already undermining Congress's spending 'cardinals' and changing how lobbyists lobby Capitol Hill.
Lame-duck Congress's first task: avoid a government shutdown

Funding for fiscal year 2011 is set to run out Dec. 3. Will emboldened Republicans be willing to shut down government rather than pass a trillion-dollar budget that expands the deficit?
The debt commission: Bowles and Simpson point to the political solution

At a Monitor breakfast with reporters, the chairmen of the presidential debt commission say that lawmakers will finally cut the deficit either because of a crisis or because they're listening to one another. Let's hope it is the latter.
The Vote
Senate ban on budget earmarks: Can it really work?

Pressure on senators to direct money to their states can be tremendous, whether it's done by budget earmarks or some other way. Appropriations bills are only one avenue to deliver the goods.
Earmarks will be hard for Senate Democrats to maintain, considering GOP opposition

Earmarks have been abandoned by most congressional Republicans, pushed by results from the midterm elections. Senate Democrats will have a difficult time supporting earmarks, both now in the lame duck session and next year.
Earmark ban: Common sense budget reform or 'tremendous step backwards'?

Senate Republicans decide to swear off earmarks. Now, they will try to persuade the Democrats to do the same. But many Democrats – and some Republicans, too – are wary.