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March 13, 2008
Maine's Delegation: Declaration of Consumption
Susan Collins and Mike Michaud against earmark reform. Olympia Snowe and Tom Allen "uncommitted."
Courage.
WASHINGTON — Legislation that would place a one-year moratorium on congressional "earmarks" is getting a chilly response from Maine's delegation.Collins says she opposes the measure, because of its broad nature, and that some earmarks are "valuable." By 'valuable,' I think she means any earmark that she can brag about.Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, and Rep. Michael Michaud, a Democrat, said they would oppose a ban on the practice that allows lawmakers to direct federal spending to local projects. Sen. Olympia Snowe, a Republican, and Rep. Tom Allen, a Democrat, remain uncommitted.
The Senate could vote on the measure as part of next year's budget as early as today. The House could vote on a similar provision next week.
The idea of prohibiting lawmakers from carving out pots of money in massive spending bills for local projects gained momentum this week when Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton announced they would support the measure.
Posted by slublog at March 13, 2008 08:10 PM
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