GOPe and Democrats finally find an issue they agree on. They want to bring back earmarks and pork...

Apparently, eliminating pork is some right-wing radical TEA PARTY idea.

Porky's II: The Earmarkers Strike Back
TOM COBURN 

May 1, 2014 7:13 p.m. E
Remember the $223 million in federal funds earmarked in 2005 for the "bridge to nowhere" in Alaska? The project stalled but the public outrage it sparked led to a 2011 decision by Congress to end earmarking. Well, it looks like the bridge-to-nowhere crowd is ready to get the scaffolding out again, with lobbyists and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle calling for a return to earmarks and pork-barrel politics.
The powerful House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R., Ky.) has called the ban a "bad idea." Two Republican candidates in Mississippi—Sen. Thad Cochran and House candidate Gene Taylor —are making a return to pork part of their platform. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) recently tried to dismiss the bipartisan ban as a fringe, right-wing idea that has led to gridlock. "It was a tea party reform," Sen. Durbin told reporters in Springfield, Ill., on April 14 after a speech to Teamsters. "They came in and eliminated it and what they did is take the glue out of a federal transportation bill. That was the glue that held everybody together."
Mr. Durbin said he longs for the day "when we get back to the point where members of Congress are sitting down with a common goal—let's pass this bill, let's make sure there is enough money in this bill, let's find the sources of revenue necessary for this bill—you know, it creates a much better and more positive feeling."
The "glue" is pork and the "positive feeling" that Mr. Durbin is referring to is the joy of spending other people's money. For politicians, this sensation is highly addictive. It's why I called earmarks the gateway drug to Washington's spending addiction after fighting my own party's earmarks in the 1990s. Read it all...

Payoff? Did Mitch McConnell sell his betrayal of conservatives for a $2 Billion earmark for a Kentucky project?

I am shamed to have ever voted for Mitch McConnell. I won't make that mistake ever again.

Via WFPL:

Language in a draft of the McConnell-Reid deal (see page 13, section 123) provided to WFPL News shows a provision that increases funding for the massive Olmsted Dam Lock in Louisville from $775 million to nearly $2. 9 billion.
The dam is considered an important project for the state and region in regards to water traffic along the Ohio River.

House Democrat Brags About Getting Around Obama Earmark Ban

Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) explains the sham of President Obama's earmark ban.

(Briefing Room)- A House Democrat indicated Thursday that lawmakers are getting around the new ban on earmarks by convincing Obama administration officials to fund their pet projects.

Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), an appropriator, made the remarks during an appearance on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal” program.

In response to a question about whether earmark bans have “curtailed” the Appropriations Committee’s power, Moran responded, “No, and I have to say — and I’m going to be as candid as possible — the appropriators are going to be okay because we know people in agencies and so on. We will continue to do the best job we can for the country and to some extent for our congressional districts because that’s our job as well.”

Obama Grabs Congress by the Earmark

President Obama promised to veto any bill sent to his desk that includes an earmark.

Vowed to veto any bills sent to him that include "earmarks," pet spending provisions pushed by individual lawmakers. "Both parties in Congress should know this: If a bill comes to my desk with earmarks inside, I will veto it."

President Obama didn't feel this way about earmarks in 2009.

The president said some earmarks are legitimate. "Done right," he said, "earmarks give legislators the opportunity to direct federal money to worthy projects that benefit people in their district, and that's why I have opposed their outright elimination."

What brought about this dramatic change of heart? Republican House Speaker John Boehner has publicly promised no bills with earmarks will get out of the House anyway. Now, President Obama can claim credit for Boehner's work. How sleazy can you get?

Rep. John P. Murtha gets an earmark from beyond the grave

Even the dead get earmarks in the Democrats Omni-porkulus spending bill.

The John P. Murtha Foundation, initiated after the 18-term appropriator's Feb. 8 death, is in line to get a $10 million earmark for the Murtha Center for Public Service at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown.

Somewhere Murtha is smiling.

Fail: Democrats Enact Policy to Reduce Earmarks and Drop Their Earmarking by a Whopping 4%

Republican pledged to reduce earmarking and House Republicans have really delivered. Taxpayers for Common Sense checked some major spending bill and found a 40% reduction.

The amount of earmarked money is down by roughly 40 percent in three 2011 appropriations bills in the House compared to last year’s bills...

The reason for this is a Republican self-imposed moratorium.

All but three of the 178 House GOP members have agreed to refrain from earmarking this year.

The Democrats promised to reduce earmarks too. Didn't they help? Well, not so much.

House Democrats have also reduced their earmarking — by about 4 percent — in the three bills that Taxpayers for Common Sense analyzed.

Shocker: 99% of Earmarks in Homeland Security Bill Go to Democrats

The proposed Homeland Security spending bill for 2011 contains $69.95 million in earmarks for various Congressmen. 99% of the earmarked money goes to Democrats. The only Republican project is $800,000 for an emergency operations center in New Orleans sought by GOP Rep. Joseph Cao (La).

The Hill reported:

All earmarks in the proposed Homeland Security spending bill for 2011 went to Democrats — save one.

Rep. Joseph Cao (La.) was the only House Republican to win a Homeland Security earmark: $800,000 for Federal Emergency Management Administration state and local programs and an emergency operations center in New Orleans. Every other earmark was sponsored by a Democrat.

‘Stupak 11′ Request $3.4 Billion in Earmarks. Is This a Payoff?

The ‘Stupak 11′ requested $3.4 billion in earmarks the next day after their crucial vote to allow the government to take over our health care. Undoubtedly, this request will be looked on favorably by the Democratic leadership in Congress. I have no proof this is a 'Quid Pro Quo,' but it stinks to high heaven.

From Sunlight Foundation via Gateway Pundit:

A day after Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., and ten other House members compromised on their pro-life position to deliver the necessary yes-votes to pass health care reform, the “Stupak 11″ released their fiscal year 2011 earmark requests, which total more than $3.4 billion...

Stupak requested more than $578 million in earmarks, including $125 million for a replacement lock on the Sault Ste. Marie, $25.6 million to build a federal courthouse in Marquette, Mich., $15 million to repaint the Mackinac Bridge and $800,000 to preserve the Quincy Mining Company smelter near Hancock in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Sen. DeMint Forces Vote on Practice of Trading Earmarks for Votes

Sen. Jim DeMint (R., S.C.) is emerging as a true leader of the Republican Party. He is forcing a vote on an amendment to bar the practice of trading earmarks for vote. This would prevent the kind of backroom corruption we are seeing with votes for health care reform being sold by Senators such as Senator Ben Nelson and Senator Mary Landrieu. Unfortunately, if it passes, the amendment will only apply to future legislation, not the current health care bill.

The Corner reported:

In a surprise move, Sen. Jim DeMint (R., S.C.), chairman of the Senate Steering Committee, will seek a vote this afternoon on an amendment to prohibit the practice of trading votes for earmarks in the United States Senate. “Americans are disgusted by the earmarks, kickbacks, and backroom deals that have been used to buy votes for this health-care takeover,” says DeMint to NRO. “I hope we can put every senator on record on whether they support this legislative bribery, and we'll know who is part of the problem.”

Barack Obama leaves the back door open for lobbyist

Barack Obama promised there would be no earmarks in the stimulus package. Does that mead lobbyist have packed their bags and left Washington. No. They have a back door to get their projects inserted into the package.

AP IMPACT: Lobbyists skirt Obama's earmark ban

By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, Associated Press Writer Julie Hirschfeld Davis, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 33 mins ago
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's ban on earmarks in the $825 billion economic stimulus bill doesn't mean interest groups, lobbyists and lawmakers won't be able to funnel money to pet projects.

They're just working around it — and perhaps inadvertently making the process more secretive.

The projects run the gamut: a Metrolink station that needs building in Placentia, Calif.; a stretch of beach in Sandy Hook, N.J., that could really use some more sand; a water park in Miami.

Instead, the money will be doled out according to arcane formulas spelled out in the bill and in some cases based on the decisions of Obama administration officials, governors and state and local agencies that will choose the projects.
Excerpted from news.yahoo.com