Breaking news: McConnell joins ban on earmarks
Monday, November 15, 2010 at 2:34PM (Washington, D. C.)--Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has joined fellow Republicans in the US Senate in calling for a moratorium on earmarks. As minority leader, McConnell's statement points to an enlightened GOP when it comes to spending. McConnell issued an official statement about the earmark ban on Monday.
McConnell said he had given the ban a lot of thought. He said, "I have thought about these things long and hard over the past few weeks. I’ve talked with my members. I’ve listened to them. Above all, I have listened to my constituents. And what I’ve concluded is that on the issue of congressional earmarks, as the leader of my party in the Senate, I have to lead first by example. Nearly every day that the Senate’s been in session for the past two years, I have come down to this spot and said that Democrats are ignoring the wishes of the American people. When it comes to earmarks, I won’t be guilty of the same thing."
While proponents of an expanded central government dismiss earmarks as small spending, facts suggest otherwise. Since 1991 Citizens Against Government Waste has identified 109,978 earmark projects totalling $306 billion.
What many don't realize is that some earmarks are perpetual and they only need to be requested once. Most earmarks are unconstitutional, directing money to a specific project that should be funded at local or state levels. Nowhere is this more apparent than in some of the millions in earmarks sponsored or co-sponsored by President Barack Obama when he served a short term in the Senate.
Rumors had suggested McConnell would buck conservative senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) who has pushed for an earmark ban for quite some time. It is very likely that newly elected senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) will join other conservatives in reducing federal spending as a means of reducing a government expanded to record levels under a Democrat Congress and Executive branch.
Those rumors can now be put to rest.
McConnell will likely receive praise from fiscal conservatives for his leadership on this issue and for keeping a GOP promise to listen to the people.
(Filed by Kay B. Day/Nov. 15, 2010)