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NEWS ABOUT: pork barrel spending

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Bill's New Baubles Persuade Some, May Scare Others

Adding pet projects could cost support of conservative Blue Dog Dems

(Newser) - The Senate’s version of the bailout bill is loaded with provisions specifically designed to sweeten the pot for House dissenters, Politico reports, including $3.3 billion for rural schools, equal health coverage for the mentally ill, and a suspension of the Alternative Minimum Tax. These changes may win over... More »

Palin Earmarks Total $453M in 2 Years

Alaska guv fails the earmarks-per-day test she applies to Obama

(Newser) - Sarah Palin called them "un-American" and John McCain denied again Friday that she requested them as governor of Alaska. But the Wall Street Journal, doing the math on earmarks, finds that Palin sought $453 million of them for her state since taking office, including $197 million in the current... More »

Palin Projects Hit Mac's Pork List

Requests from Sarah Palin made it onto McCain's 'pork list' 3 times

(Newser) - Requests from Sarah Palin made it onto John McCain's "pork list" of objectionable spending three times while Palin was mayor of Wasilla, the Los Angeles Times reports. McCain's lists came as part of his long campaign against the earmarking system in which members of Congress can chuck cash at... More »

McCain Vows Lifetime Lobby Ban on Aides

Candidate calls pork-pushers 'symptom of a disease'

(Newser) - Calling lobbyists “the symptom of a disease,” John McCain railed against earmarking and pork-barrel spending yesterday, telling Politico that members of his administration would be barred from lobbying after life at the White House. Some of McCain’s top campaign aides are former lobbyists, and the senator has... More »

Nat'l Review: Stevens, Get Out

Indicted Republican senator 'disgraced himself and his office'

(Newser) - Newly indicted Ted Stevens should resign as soon as possible, write the editors of the National Review. The Alaskan senator, who is accused of seven counts of making false statements, legally “deserves the benefit of the doubt—but not from an ethical standpoint,” they note. “The facts... More »

Payback Time for Meanest Man in Congress

Stevens bullied his way into power, and now maybe to disgrace

(Newser) - Few tears were shed on Capital Hill when Ted Stevens was indicted yesterday. Alaska’s celebrated senator spent 4 decades bullying Congress, writes Michael Crowley in the Washington Post, rising ever higher in the ranks by making politics personal. “I'm a mean, miserable SOB,” he’d boast, sporting... More »

Your Tax Dollars Put Their Names in Concrete

Lawmakers refuse to face widespread 'edifice complex'

(Newser) - Not long ago, a lawmaker had to be dead to put his or her name on something, but these days every two-bit representative in Congress has a building, bridge, or monument, complains John Fund in the Wall Street Journal. These “honors” are almost always paid for with tax dollars,... More »

After Decline, Congress' Earmarking is Back

Legislators pledged to shrink such spending last year

(Newser) - Though Congress vowed last year to reduce earmarking—the process of directing funds to projects at home with little scrutiny—recently there’s been a jump in such spending, the Washington Post reports. A House defense bill’s earmarked funds rose 29% last month, and the Senate bill looks as... More »

McCain Pitches 'Gas Tax Holiday,' Drug, Pork Limits

Candidate lays out slate of economic initiatives

(Newser) - John McCain used a tax day appearance to propose a summer “gas tax holiday,” calling his plan to suspend the 18-cent levy “an immediate economic stimulus.” Among other economic initiatives the candidate outlined today were upping prescription drug premiums for wealthy retirees, declaring a moratorium on... More »

Pork Watchdog Taps Byrd

W.Va. rules the roost in earmarks as $2.8B in tasty meat comes under scrutiny

(Newser) - Fiscal responsibility and vegetarianism took a hit today with the release of the 2008 Oinkers, awarded by a Washington watchdog group for the "most egregious and blatant examples of pork." Sen. Robert Byrd landed the top award for earmarking $386 million for West Virginia, but Alaska was the... More »

Senate Rejects Temporary Ban on Pork

Congress passes budget plans to roll back tax cuts

(Newser) - The Senate soundly rejected a bid to ban pork barrel spending for a year last night, despite the support of all three presidential candidates who returned to DC for a day of heavy voting, CNN reports. Both the House and Senate also passed budget plans—largely symbolic moves in an... More »

Ohio's 'Senator No' Metzenbaum Dead at 90

Crusading Democrat took on big business in long Senate career

(Newser) - Former Ohio senator Howard Metzenbaum has died at home at the age of 90, reports the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The Democrat, his views shaped by the Great Depression and FDR's policies, fought hard for the rights of workers during a political career that began in 1943. Colleagues nicknamed the self-made... More »

Scientists: Pork Comes From Pigs, Not From Bears

Grizzly-counting program was a winner, researchers say

(Newser) - It’s a favorite target in John McCain’s tirade against pork-barrel spending, but scientists hail the Northern Divide Grizzly Bear Project as a great success, the Washington Post reports. The $5 million Montana study tabulated the grizzly population, assessing the success of conservation efforts and proving, says one researcher,... More »

Enmity Dates to '02 Olympics

McCain-Romney beef has roots in feuding over federal spending on Salt Lake City Games

(Newser) - The beef between John McCain and Mitt Romney has a history—it's almost 8 years old, a lifetime in politics. In 2000, McCain blasted "preposterous" pork-barrel spending on the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, which Romney headed. The two clashed publicly, reports the LA Times, and, as one expert... More »

Bush to Blast Dem Earmarks in Union Speech

Prez will promote stimulus plan, Iraq war in tonight's talk

(Newser) - President Bush will slam Democratic spending in favor of his own multi-billion-dollar proposals in his last State of the Union speech, scheduled for 6 p.m. EST tonight. He plans to promote his $150 billion stimulus package, and reiterate the need to fight in Iraq—recently valued at another $108... More »

Congress Overrides Bush Veto

Senate votes 79-14 to pass water resources bill, following House

(Newser) - President Bush was handed the first veto override of his two terms today as the Senate voted 79-14 to pass a $23-billion water-resources bill over his objections that it constituted "irresponsible spending." Thirty-four Republicans defied the president to vote for the bill; the House had voted 361-54 in... More »

Dems, GOP Pounce on Bush Over Water Veto

Congress may unite to hand him first override of his presidency

(Newser) - President Bush is gearing up for another battle with Congress, but his latest fray could result in the first overriding of one of his vetoes, the Washington Post reports. His rejection yesterday of the water resources bill, popular with Democrats and Republicans, is a gamble because it may endear him... More »

Dem Congress Still Dishing Out Pork

The new majority is not as kosher as they claim to be

(Newser) - Democrats in Congress pledged to cut the pork out of appropriations bills, but the new majority is already cheating on the diet, reports the  Washington Post. Using a technique called "phonemarking," congressmen are contacting federal agencies directly and asking them to fund their pet projects, all while boasting... More »

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