It’s amusing to see how much is copied within the media at times. The title of today’s Rush Limbaugh Show Notes email is “Who Leads the Democrat Party?” which amused me because this is a question which Sean Hannity was posing to liberal (note for Australian readers: “small L liberal”, as in not conservative) callers in the latter half of last week.
It isn’t as silly a question as it may seem, after all Barack Obama did promise to not have any “earmarks” or “pet projects” in his spending bills, and the omnibus spending bill currently before the US Senate is chock full of them…8,750 of them totalling USD$7.7 Billion [1]. Some Democrats are calling on Obama to veto the stimulus plan (and honour his election promise) if the earmarks are not removed by the Senate, which would send a strong message that Obama is in control and won’t be pressured in to doing things which he doesn’t believe are right. He could probably give the Republican party a whack at the same time considering that Republicans are responsible for 40% of the earmarks.
That said, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are quite keen on keeping the earmarks, with house speaker Pelosi referring to the current state of the omnibus bill as a “take-it-or-leave-it” affair…so if Obama receives an earmark filled omnibus bill from the senate, and signs it, one does have to wonder if Pelosi and Reid really are Princess Pelosi and Prince Harry, and the people really in charge.
I suppose it’s a matter of wait and see right now…but I’ll give you this much information for free: if Obama vetos an earmark filled omnibus bill, he will have my full support.
Samuel