| Jamie Dupree |
Senate Earmark Backers
I'm a day late, but it is still a good story to explore, as earlier this week 15 GOP Senators joined with most Democrats to block an earmark ban offered up by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC).
The plan would have established a moratorium on earmarks in both Fiscal Year 2010 and Fiscal Year 2011.
That was a double hit, because it would have blocked earmarks approved by Congress last year and any that might come up in the budget process this year.
It was no surprise that the Senate voted down that plan 68-29. What was interesting was to dig into that vote and see who ended up where on the earmark issue.
There were four Democrats who voted to ban earmarks for those two years - Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN), Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), Sen. Ted Kaufman (D-DE) and Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO).
McCaskill has already earned the reputation of someone who will vote against extra spending; maybe that stems from her old job as State Auditor in Missouri.
Feingold has tried at times to rein in spending as well; Bayh has been preaching fiscal discipline for some time, while Kaufman surprised me, since he was Chief of Staff to Sen. Joe Biden for years.
On the other side, there were 15 Republicans who voted against the earmark ban. They were:
Sen. Lamar Alexander (TN), Sen. Kit Bond (MO), Sen. Jim Bunning (KY), Sen. Thad Cochran (MS), Sen. Susan Collins (ME), Sen Judd Gregg (NH), Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX), Sen. Jim Inhofe (OK), Sen. Richard Lugar (IN), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (AK), Sen. George Voinovich (OH) and Sen. Roger Wicker (MS).
We can make some interesting observations here. Let's start with the two Senators from Mississippi. Sen. Thad Cochran is the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, and has been very good at directing money back to his state.
Bond, Lugar, Voinovich and Gregg have been around for a long time. They know how to bring home the bacon for their states. The Old Guard and the New Guard don't see eye to eye on this home state project stuff.
That dispute even spilled onto the Senate floor on Wednesday, as Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) went after amendment sponsor Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), as Inhofe rattled off earmarks that DeMint grabbed for the Palmetto State in the past.
It's a reminder that not all Republicans share the same fervor on holding down spending and blocking earmarks.
That was a double hit, because it would have blocked earmarks approved by Congress last year and any that might come up in the budget process this year.
It was no surprise that the Senate voted down that plan 68-29. What was interesting was to dig into that vote and see who ended up where on the earmark issue.
There were four Democrats who voted to ban earmarks for those two years - Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN), Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), Sen. Ted Kaufman (D-DE) and Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO).
McCaskill has already earned the reputation of someone who will vote against extra spending; maybe that stems from her old job as State Auditor in Missouri.
Feingold has tried at times to rein in spending as well; Bayh has been preaching fiscal discipline for some time, while Kaufman surprised me, since he was Chief of Staff to Sen. Joe Biden for years.
On the other side, there were 15 Republicans who voted against the earmark ban. They were:
Sen. Lamar Alexander (TN), Sen. Kit Bond (MO), Sen. Jim Bunning (KY), Sen. Thad Cochran (MS), Sen. Susan Collins (ME), Sen Judd Gregg (NH), Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX), Sen. Jim Inhofe (OK), Sen. Richard Lugar (IN), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (AK), Sen. George Voinovich (OH) and Sen. Roger Wicker (MS).
We can make some interesting observations here. Let's start with the two Senators from Mississippi. Sen. Thad Cochran is the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, and has been very good at directing money back to his state.
Bond, Lugar, Voinovich and Gregg have been around for a long time. They know how to bring home the bacon for their states. The Old Guard and the New Guard don't see eye to eye on this home state project stuff.
That dispute even spilled onto the Senate floor on Wednesday, as Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) went after amendment sponsor Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), as Inhofe rattled off earmarks that DeMint grabbed for the Palmetto State in the past.
It's a reminder that not all Republicans share the same fervor on holding down spending and blocking earmarks.
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