“I don’t think so,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said when asked if she would comply with the resolution. Murkowski said the ban is merely “about messaging” and would give a misleading impression of taking on the deficit. “I don’t think it is being straight up with the public,” she said.
Appropriations ranking member Thad Cochran, R-Miss., would not commit to complying with a ban resolution, saying he would see “what other options” are available. And Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., said he was unlikely to honor the ban. He introduced legislation Monday to change the earmarking process, including barring congressional aides from participating in fundraising activities; creating a new database of all earmarks; giving the Government Accountability Office the power to randomly audit earmarks; and requiring lawmakers to certify that a recipient of an earmark is qualified to handle the project being funded.
This is a direct slap in the face all of those that voted for Washington to cut all of this spending.
Inhofe is usually a hard fiscal conseravtive, but Cochran, who led the Senatorial field for bringing home the bacon (according to a study by Citizens Against Government Waste released in April 2010), won an astounding $485 million in earmarks this year. Also, Murkowski, if she wins the election, is well-known for being a RINO and bucking Republican leadership.
So, believe that Inhofe will probably reverse course, but Murkowski and Cochran are too dependent on earmarks to turn back easily and quickly. They'll need a Damascus moment to quit their addiction.
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Update
Via a tweet from @senatus:
Cochran on earmark moratorium (via release): "I will take the views of my Republican colleagues to heart."
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