Earmarks Delay Homeland Security Bill - Agreement Near

by Andrew Taylor: Republicans skillfully exploited a political opening provided by Democrats, whose position ran counter to a campaign promises and reforms passed both this year and last. . . . Democrats yielded to GOP demands for floor votes on offending "earmarks." . . . David Obey, D-WI, started an uproar by announcing earmarks . . . wouldn't be added to spending bills until House-Senate negotiations. Obey subsequently softened his position to offer GOP conservatives weeks to scrutinize the thousands of earmarks in spending bills, but until Wednesday evening was publicly unwilling to guarantee floor votes on questionable projects. . . . The development came Wednesday evening . . . The agreement has not been finalized, but under an outline described by both Democrats and Republicans, Democrats would largely abandon plans to bypass floor debates on earmarks, while Republicans would offer procedural help to move the 12 spending bills through the notoriously partisan House. Republicans cautioned that an agreement was not final. . . [Read More]

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