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Obama White House Meeting with McCain Signals Thaw in Frosty Relations
By Andrea Stone - Politics DailyWASHINGTON -- John McCain may not have emerged from a private meeting in the Oval Office today as Barack Obama's BFF but the two former presidential rivals appear on friendlier terms than they have been for awhile. Amid chaos in Egypt and a monster blizzard in the Midwest, the president took time out of his packed schedule to meet for 30 minutes behind closed doors at the White House with the Arizona Republican. "Senator McCain and the President had a productive meeting on a range of issues, including the situation in the Middle East, immigration reform and border security, trade, and ...
Harry Reid: Obama Should 'Back Off' on Earmark Ban
By Tom Kavanagh - Politics DailyPresident Obama stressed earmark elimination in his State of the Union address Tuesday night, but the message didn't hit home with one of his closest allies, Harry Reid. In an interview with "NBC Nightly News," the Senate majority leader said Obama should "back off" on the idea. Reid called Obama's statement that he would veto any legislation sent to him with earmarks included an "applause line" and "absolutely wrong. . . . The president has enough power; he should back off and let us do what we do." Specifically, that means he and other lawmakers "have a constitutional obligation to do ...
Everglades Boosters: Environmental Restoration Can Spur Economy, Bipartisanship
By Amy Green - Politics DailyWESTON, Fla. -- During the worst recession in a generation, we can't afford to engage in environmental restoration. Or can we? Tying environmental restoration to economic recovery is the emerging strategy for environmentalists as political turnover transforms government away from Democratic control, big spending and earmarks. That was the theme recently at the annual conference of the Everglades Coalition, an alliance of 53 national and local organizations involved in the largest environmental restoration effort in the history of the planet. The conference draws policy-makers from all ...
Harry Reid Spikes $1.1 Trillion Spending Bill as GOP Support Dissolves
By Patricia Murphy - Politics DailySenate Majority Leader Harry Reid pulled a $1.1 trillion spending bill from consideration Thursday night after Republicans who had earlier committed to Reid that they would vote for the measure quietly withdrew their support. The legislation, an omnibus appropriations bill, was a combination of all 12 annual spending bills that Congress usually passes individually. Although Congress sometimes combines four or five unfinished spending bills into an omnibus measure at the end of a year, months of battles between Democrats and Republicans over health care reform, unemployment benefits and other ...
Did the GOP Learn Its Lesson in November?
By Matt Lewis - Politics DailyWhile much has been made of the "historic" "wave" "landslide" midterm election results, one thing nearly every poll confirmed was that the results were not an affirmation of Republicans, but instead a repudiation of the big spending Democrats. The Republican push to end earmarks has been hailed as a sign that they were on the right track. But as Democrats and even some pork-addicted Republicans point out, earmarks make up such a tiny percentage of total spending that the value of an earmark ban is, though important, primarily symbolic. This week, the current congressional Republicans will ...
Give Us Liberty or Give Us Mitch McConnell
By Robert and Donna Trussell - Politics DailyFollow the Trussell cartoons on Twitter at ChaosTheoryPD ...
Sen. Reid Calls Earmarks an 'Obligation'
By Amy Ayres - AOL News
(Nov. 17) -- As Senate Republicans moved to enact a two-year moratorium on earmarks this week, dissent roiled the ranks of Democrats and Republicans over the practice that allows individual lawmakers to designate federal funds for specific projects, usually in their states. Although Senate Republicans have vowed to halt the practice, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid defended it Tuesday as the obligation of every member of Congress. ...
McConnell Flip-Flops on Earmarks, But Does It Really Matter?
By Paul Wachter - AOL News(Nov. 16) -- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell reversed himself Monday and endorsed a moratorium on earmarks, the sly legislative devices by which members of Congress direct federal funds to their pet projects. South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint joined other GOP tea partiers in pressuring McConnell, who has steered about $1 billion to Kentucky with earmarks, into changing his mind. The move put McConnell and the tea partiers in an unfamiliar position, one aligned with President Barack Obama. "I welcome Senator McConnell's decision to join me and members of both parties who support ...
Opinion: What's So Bad About Earmarks?
By not in system - AOL News
(Nov. 16) -- Few words are dirtier in Washington than "earmark." Soon-to-be House Speaker John Boehner has vowed to ban them. President Barack Obama has called for earmark reform. The chairmen of the president's debt commission say the practice should be eliminated. And on Monday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., reversed himself and says he now backs an earmarks moratorium. Meanwhile, Rep. Darrell Issa, the California Republican expected to chair the House Oversight Committee next year, called Obama "one of the most corrupt presidents in modern times." He later scaled back his ...
Mitch McConnell Changes Course, Moves to Ban Earmarks
By Patricia Murphy - Politics DailySen. Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate and a longtime member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced Monday that he will support a ban on earmarks, or pork barrel projects, in the 112th Congress. McConnell has long defended the practice, in which a member of Congress sends federal money to a specific project, as the legislative branch's constitutional right to direct constituents' tax dollars toward relevant projects. But McConnell reversed course Monday under pressure from tea party activists and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), who announced that he had enough votes in ...
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