Topic: Doing away with anonymous earmarks which enable legislators to pad bills with pork without having to be accountable for it.
Question: Why didn’t a GOP controlled Congress think of this?
Answer: They did. They talked about it endlessly. In the end, they did nothing.
Headline: Democrats: Identify pork sponsors
Irony: The party of limited government has handed a core issue, fiscal responsibility, to the Democrats.
Agony: The fact that a far left liberal like Nancy Pelosi is doing what the GOP Congress should have done years ago.
Bottom Line: A good idea is a good idea, even if it comes from Nancy Pelosi.
Democrats: Identify pork sponsors
WASHINGTON â?? Democrats aim to open the next Congress in January with a new rule that identifies lawmakers who use legislative “earmarks” to help special interests â?? a change Republicans promised but didn’t implement.
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said her first agenda item after being elected House speaker will be a vote to require sponsors of earmarks to be identified. Currently, lawmakers can remain anonymous in sponsoring an earmark, which is language in a bill that directs funds or tax benefits to a business, project or institution.
“There has to be transparency,” the California congresswoman told USA TODAY last week. “I’d just as soon do away with all (earmarks), but that probably isn’t realistic.”
And yes, I know the Democrat leadership is up to their ears with earmarks themselves, but this is something that needs to be done, and should have been done a long time ago. I don’t really care who does it, just do it.