Via TheBlaze.com - Pork Survives: Senate Rejects Earmarks Ban

Looks like we just got a list of Republicans that we need to defeat in the primaries, unfortunately only two are up for re-election in the next two years and the American people have short term memories.

WASHINGTON (The Blaze/AP) — The Senate has rejected a GOP bid to ban the practice of larding spending bills with earmarks — those pet projects that lawmakers love to send home to their states.

Democrats and a handful of Republicans combined to defeat the effort, which would have effectively forbidden the Senate from considering legislation containing earmarks like road and bridge projects, community development funding, grants to local police departments and special-interest tax breaks.

Earlier this month, Republicans bowed to tea party activists and passed a party resolution declaring GOP senators would give up earmarks. House Republicans have also given up the practice, but most Democrats say the earmarks are a legitimate way to direct taxpayer money to their constituents.

The legislation would have established an earmark moratorium for fiscal years 2012 and 2013, and also would have covered the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1, The Hill reports.

“I believe I have an important responsibility to the state of Illinois and the people I represent to direct federal dollars into projects critically important for our state and our future,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill) said.

The eight GOP senators who voted to preserve earmark spending include: Thad Cochran (Miss.) (2014), Susan Collins (Maine) (2014), James Inhofe (Okla.) (2012), Dick Lugar (Ind.) (2012), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) (2016), Richard Shelby (Ala.) (2016), retiring Sen. George Voinovich (Ohio) and defeated Sen. Bob Bennett (Utah) also voted against it.

Six Democrats voted for the earmark moratorium, including: Sens. Claire McCaskill (Mo.), Bill Nelson (Fla.), Colorado Sens. Michael Bennet and Mark Udall, as well as retiring Sen. Evan Bayh (Ind.) and defeated Sen. Russ Feingold (Wis.).

I understand that earmarks make up a small percentage of the budget but if these Senators won't stop spending our tax dollars on turtle tunnels and bridges to nowhere can we really expect them to be responsible with the big tickets items like defense and social security. I think not.

Where's the Bill?

Thank you Jake Tapper for continuing to ask the tough questions. You are an honorable man and a credit to your profession.

The Democrats in the Senate have not even introduced a bill in the Senate regarding keeping the Bush tax cuts in place yet it is the Republicans, who by the way did introduce a bill for all Americans, not just the middle class, who are somehow blocking the Democrats nonexistence legislation.

Carbon Taxes Will Be The End of The United States

Just came across this column by Christopher Booker of the London Telegraph from June 2009. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/christopherbooker/5907383/Global-cooling-hits-Al-Gores-home.html

I truly believe that if the Senate passes the Cap and Tax bill that our children will look at us when they are grown and ask us if we also believed the world was also flat when passed this law. Science says that C02 is not be blamed for the fluctuations in temperature but our government doesn't seem to read these reports but I guess we shouldn't expect anything from a bunch of fools that joke about not reading the bills that they are passing.