House GOP leaders are lining up behind the conservative Republican Study Committee to support additional spending cuts next week when the 2011 continuing resolution reaches the floor. But even with leadership on board, will it be enough to hit the magic number of 218 votes?

Under a process not seen in years, members will be able to offer amendments to the CR under an “open rule.” Conservatives, lead by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), will offer one that achieves a full $100 billion cut in non-security discretionary spending. Last week GOP leaders put forth a plan that cuts $58 billion from the current fiscal year.

The RSC got a boost yesterday when Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) announced he would vote for additional cuts beyond the GOP’s initial $58 billion proposal. Last week his spokesman singled out the RSC as a group likely to propose additional cuts that Cantor would support.

“There has been a lot of talk on our side that members want to cut even further, and most of us welcome that talk and will be supporting yet even further cuts,” Cantor told reporters yesterday. He later added: “I’m going to be supportive of a lot of the amendments.”

It’s likely that Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) would support additional cuts, but he has not declared his intentions because members are still drafting amendments.

Other GOP leadership offices have followed Cantor’s lead. Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Conference Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.) and Chief Deputy Whip Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) all favor more spending cuts.

That’s good news for the RSC. But it still might not be enough to push the RSC’s $100 billion amendment over the top.

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First Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) surrenders his chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee amid an ethics investigation. Now Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) proposes an idea that she hopes will help her make good on her promise to help lead “the most ethical Congress in history”—a party-wide ban on earmarks. Will it happen? Don’t bet on it. Reason.tv’s “Pork Party House” helps explain why neither party can resist the pull of pork.

If you’re a politician, lobbyist, or insider and you’re in the mood to party, check out a Washington D.C. mansion called the Sewall-Belmont House. Party with senators and celebrities at thousand-dollar-a-plate fundraisers! You might even get to ride a mechanical bull! The Sewall-Belmont House hosts so many A-list events, you might be surprised to find out that your tax dollars help fund this hotspot for Washington insiders. “Over the last 10 years, the Sewall-Belmont House has gotten over $3.4 million in earmarks,” says Leslie Paige of Citizens Against Government Waste.

Reporters often highlight the most ridiculous examples, but politicians have learned how to make their pork projects sound uncontroversial, even appealing. Just say your project will help children, senior citizens, or—if you really want to slip under the radar—direct taxpayer dough to a museum.

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