Across the board, and no exceptions.
House Republicans approved a conference-wide moratorium on earmarks on Thursday, one day after a House committee enacted a ban on for-profit earmarks.
The Republicans’ moratorium is more extensive than the House Appropriations Committee’s ban in that it applies to all earmarks for all members of the caucus.
(Via Instapundit) Rep. Pence calls it a ‘clean break,’ which it is: I forget who out there has noted that this has been at least partially brought about by it being an election year. Which is fine by me; fear of the consequences of ticking off the voters is a perfectly good motivational tool for keeping legislators in line, as the upcoming Congressional elections are going to demonstrate. There’s going to be a goodly number of Democratic object lessons Congressmen who are going to wish that they had trusted their instincts in that regard, in fact.
Moe Lane
PS: Democratic praise for this is, of course, worth its weight in gold. Speaker Pelosi’s in particular: she has no intention of giving up earmarks. After all, her current strategy for passing health care rationing relies on the hope that enough members of her own caucus will be willing to prostitute their votes…
Well, that’s unfair. To prostitutes.
PPS: Give up the ‘it’s a small portion of the budget!’ wheeze. The problem with earmarks is that they encourage legislators to treat the Federal Budget as their own personal cornucopia/no-limit, no-consequences credit card. As everyone who pays even rudimentary attention to this sort of thing knows perfectly well.
Crossposted to RedState.
It’s not just about the deficit. It’s also about corruption: without the power to deliver earmarks, then there is less incentive to buy off a Congressman.
Also, as you aptly point out re: Pelosi. Without the ability to promise earmarks – or conversely to deny them, that will inevitably lead to better legislation as will be harder to cajole recalcitrant legislators by dangling a few extra federal dollars for their district in front of their faces.