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There Is No Earmark Moratorium (Cont'd)

By Paul Blumenthal

As previously stated, there is no earmark moratorium. Politico reports on the joint work of Sen. Jim Inhofe, earmark fan, and Sen. John McCain, earmark foe, in finding a work around for approving earmarks:

But in an unexpected twist, longtime earmark apologist Inhofe has quietly scored McCain?s endorsement on a proposal that would allow home-state projects if they are first authorized by Senate committees. It?s a major coup for Inhofe, who has emerged as the most aggressive Republican battling to save earmarks in a year when Congress has effectively banned them.

...

Under the Inhofe-McCain proposal, the definition of earmarks would exempt projects specifically authorized by Senate committees, that meet ?funding eligibility criteria? established by the relevant committees or that are created through a competitive-bidding and formula-based process. Earmarks could also be enacted with the support of 75 senators.

I also suggest reading my colleague John Wonderlich's post about a mostly unknown earmark transparency executive order issued by President George W. Bush that is apparently going unenforced.

Full post as published by Sunlight Foundation on March 07, 2011 (boomark / email).