Time to update former Senator Bob Kerrey’s line about Bill Clinton I think. I’ve said from day one that when it comes to Barack Obama you have to focus on the difference between his words and deeds.
Candidate Obama’s words,
“We need earmark reform, and when I’m president, I will go line by line to make sure we are not spending money unwisely.”
President Obama’s words,
President Obama’s deeds,
US News & World Report
President Obama Earmark Hypocrisy on the House Omnibus Spending Package
Yesterday, the House approved an omnibus spending package—nine different spending measures bundled together for a total of $410 billion—and the Senate is expected to vote on it today. Democrats are hoping to get it to the White House for the president’s signature by Friday, because otherwise the government won’t have enough money to make it to the end of its fiscal year.
This bill is quickly becoming a credibility problem for the Democrats. A big one.
Politico reports that the 1,132-page behemoth contains over 9,000 earmarks covering more than a dozen cabinet agencies. But because it was first negotiated last fall by the House and Senate (under far different economic circumstances, I’d point out), the Obama administration has called it “unfinished business”—just a little $400 billion sideshow we should all ignore. A top White House aide said that Obama would change the “rules” for future spending bills, but only after this bill clears the Senate. We thought the administration believed in cutting back on congressional earmarks, but as Peggy Noonan would say, it’s time to suspend our belief.
Is that the “fundamental change” Obama keeps talking about? Sounds like same old, same old. Politics as usual. Chump change is what we are getting.
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“We need earmark reform and when I’m president, I will go line by line to make sure we’re not spending money unwisely,” McCain quoted a campaign promise Obama made on the trail. “That’s the quote, the promise of the president of the United States made to the American people in a debate with me in Oxford, Mississippi. So what is brought to the floor today, 9,000 earmarks. So much for change,” McCain added.