Obama to Sign Spending Bill, Push for New Rules

[WriteDown]

Source: WSJ

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama plans to sign a massive spending bill to keep the federal government running, even though it is stashed with the very kinds of pet projects that the campaigning Obama promised to resist.

Mr. Obama could sign the $410 billion spending package as early as Wednesday, although he remains "troubled" by the so-called earmarks in the bill that Republicans and moderate Democrats have assailed as unworthy pork-barrel spending. The president planned to use the signing ceremony to announce earmark reforms.
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White House officials in recent weeks have dismissed criticism of the earmarks in the bill, saying the legislation was a remnant of last year and that the president planned to turn his attention to future spending instead of looking backward.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Mr. Obama wouldn't be the first president to sign legislation that he viewed as less than ideal. Asked whether Mr. Obama had second thoughts about signing the bill, Mr. Gibbs's reply was curt: "No."....

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123676768335693459.html?mod=igoogle_wsj_gadgv1

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So much for cutting earmarks.

[bluestateguy]

1. Earmark reform should be done in the Congress

It's their process, and short of the line-item veto (declared unconstitutional in 1998) there is really not much the president can do about it. Is the president supposed to veto a whole bill that funds a large chunk of the federal government because some jerk slipped an earmark in for a few million dollars, paying for a new library at Midwestern Cow College State University?

[WriteDown]

2. Actually, yes....

Veto the whole bill and hold a huge press conference with all the networks declaring how Congress has failed the nation and needs to remove all earmarks. If you want to study how fast paint dries in your state, submit a new, separate bill.

[soccermomforobama]

3. I so wish he would do that

[marshall]

4. Unfortunately it was more than just one jerk

There are dozens of them contributing thousands of earmarks.

[tclambert]

5. They said 8,500 earmarks worth $7.7B.

8,500 sounds like a lot. These days, $7.7B does not. It's less than 2% of the $410B total. The TARP bailout was $700B. Iraq war is about $604B. Your mama's snicker-doodle budget $840B.

$7.7B divided by 8,500 gives an average of about $906,000. Death by nibbles.