Much has been written about the House GOP Leadership’s plan to ban earmarks for two years. The praise they have received from conservatives is justified, because it seems, at least for the time being, that their proposed moratorium doesn’t have the weaselly wiggle-room sometimes employed by politicians. It is also likely that their stance pushed former earmarker-extraordinaire Sen. Mitch McConnell into supporting a similar ban in the Senate. Who knew the ‘road to Damascus’ veered past the Potomac?

So far, so good. The ban on earmarks may be largely symbolic as it won’t, on its own, lower federal spending, but symbols are important. They only take you so far, however. While House GOP Leadership have tipped their hats to the tea party movement with the earmark ban, other actions they are taking this week behind the scenes will neuter the movement and consign the incoming freshman to the back of the Congressional bus.

This week, the GOP caucus will finalize committee assignments. Committees are the workshops of Congress, where legislation is debated, tweaked and finalized. Legislation emerging from committees is the legislation that comes to the House floor for a vote. (The Democrats by-passed this process, but the GOP is expected to return to committees to their traditional legislative function.)

But, not all committees are created equal. The House has a group of committees called the “A” committees, through which all significant legislation must pass. These committees are so powerful, there is even a limit on how many of these committees a member may serve.

Big Government has learned that the House GOP Leadership has made it clear; no freshmen need apply for these committees. They are reserving them for the existing members, thank you very much.

(more…)

Senate Republicans think you are stupid.  Leaders in the Senate Republican Caucus are opposing a measure by Tea Party Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina to ban earmarks for two years.  The elites are angry.

Senate Republican Leaders have led an effort to beat back DeMint’s proposal in an effort to save earmarking.  An Earmark is a special project, usually secured by a lobbyist friend of the politician, for a project in a Senator’s home state.  See Bridge to Nowhere is an excellent example of an earmark.  An earmark is a means for Members of Congress to send federal money to projects favored by the member.  These members are elitists who think the Tea Party movement will tolerate Republicans going back to the free spending ways of the Bush years.

On Tuesday, Senator DeMint is forcing a vote on a proposal to change the rules of the Senate Republican Caucus to ban earmarks for two years.  Seems like a proposal that makes sense, yet the elites and lobbyists are angry.  Leaders of the party are fighting against DeMint to make sure that they can preserve earmarking.  They just don’t get it and believe that the Tea Party movement is here to serve selfish politics.

(more…)

This morning, the House GOP Caucus adopted a unilateral ban on all earmarks.

For millions of Americans, the earmark process in Congress has become a symbol of a broken Washington. Today House Republicans took an important step toward showing the American people we’re serious about reform by adopting an immediate, unilateral ban on all earmarks. But the more difficult battle lies ahead, and that’s stopping the spending spree in Washington that is saddling our children and grandchildren with trillions of dollars in debt. Only then will we have succeeded in bringing fundamental change to the way Congress spends taxpayers’ money.