Posted on 01/26/2008 8:07:11 AM PST by jdm
The Republican retreat at Greenbrier has produced the first signs that House leadership wants to rescue the party's credibility on fiscal discipline. John Boehner and the pork crusaders dragged the rest of the caucus almost literally kicking and screaming to challenge the Democrats to a one-year moratorium on all earmarks. It's not perfect, but it's a start:
House Republicans called on Friday for “an immediate moratorium” on earmarking money for pet projects. They urged Democrats to join them in establishing a bipartisan panel to set strict new standards for such spending.As an interim step, House Republican leaders said, they will insist that all House Republicans follow standards to eliminate “wasteful pork-barrel spending.”
Republicans set forth their intentions in a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The letter reflects a fragile consensus reached Friday after more than two hours of impassioned debate among House Republicans, who met behind closed doors at their annual conference at the Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.
Democrats won control of the House in 2006 with promises to end the Republican “culture of corruption.” House Republican leaders hope to seize the initiative on the issue, which they believe resonates with millions of voters.
Boehner and activists like Jeff Flake wanted a unilateral moratorium on earmarks, but that got shot down by a caucus fearful of losing the balance of power. Many didn't want to address pork at all, but the majority of House Republicans have slowly come to understand that their years of larding appropriations with self-serving projects has ruined their credibility with small-government conservatives -- and dented overall contributions as a result. Few are willing to accept their arguments to represent cleaner and smaller government without some dramatic moves to repair the damage already done.
Will the Democrats take up the challenge? Boehner's letter requests an answer by the end of the Democratic retreat, which will be in less than two weeks. So far the response has been minimal, but a spokesperson for Nancy Pelosi reminded the media that the Democrats lowered the number of earmarks during their control of Congress. They did -- they lowered it from a peak of over 13,000 earmarks to 11,700 in the FY2008 budget, which isn't exactly impressive as reforms go. They also violated their own supposed reforms by allowing airdropped and non-legislative earmarks, which accounted for 90% of the earmarks in the omnibus spending bill.
If that will be the sum total of the Democratic response, the Republicans have a winning issue -- f they stick to their guns. In the event Pelosi fails to meet the challenge, Republicans will instead begin adhering to new standards of behavior:
Boehner has done a great job in pressing the Republican caucus for real change. This may not be what porkbusters want as a solution, but it isn't a bad start. It puts pork on the table as a real issue, and it forces the House Democrats to respond. The Democrats will likely deride this as a stunt, but it pushes the envelope a little farther in the direction of reform -- and that's worthwhile, as a start.
That will go over like a turd in the punchbowl in the Rat party.
Sadly, the acts of Ted Stevens and his fellow GOP senators have made the pork acquired by my senator (Byrd) seem insignificant.
You mean like his bridge to nowhere and that stupid ferry boat to nowhere>
“The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.” Alexis de Tocqueville
Short-term greed always trumps an intelligent evaluation of long-term interests in our society.
I feel sad for my children and what they will inherit, for they will not even learn the history that made us great as a nation.
“Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith.” Alexis de Tocqueville
No, no, no. Pork is tasty...as long as it is on my grill and in my backyard and shared with my friends. WTF, you’re paying for it, right? /sarc
No projects named after the earmarker —— This has long been a pet peeve of mine. I support a law forbidding the naming of tax-funded projects for elected officials until after they’ve been dead for 5 years. Now, if you go out and make money and give the money for a project, A-OK, have it named for you. But when you’re an elected official, using confiscated funds from over-burdened taxpayers to build a monument for yourself, the hell you can name it for yourself. IT WASN’T YOUR MONEY.
YEAH Baby! I cannot wait for spring time!
/ sarcasm off
Piousness is disgusting no matter where you see it; whether by the philanthroper who craves the lime light, in a church's pew, by a company demonstrating their commitments to the Left-wing fad of the month, or by a conservative politician pandering his or her constituents by selling out their limited government principles.
The Republican caucus demanding earmarks to maintain their power will continue to have their power revoked by the voters. Hopefully we can then recruit candidates who will represent the Conservative principles of their platforms.
8 years overdue.
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