1. Omnibus Bill: FAIL - 2. Reid: Earmarks GOOD

1. Omnibus Bill: FAIL

Of course, that is a good thing. I noted some of the ridiculous earmarks here. From The Washington Times:

Senate Democrats conceded defeat Thursday and pulled their $1.1 trillion spending bill loaded with earmarks from the chamber floor, stymied by Republicans who unified to block the massive bill in the final days of a contentious session of Congress.

Angered at what happened, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, said nine Republicans, who had earlier promised to vote for the bill, had withdrawn their support in the last 24 hours. And he berated fellow lawmakers for ceding spending authority to the executive branch.

But Republicans said one lesson they learned from last month's election that big spending bills - in this case, a 1,924-page measure Democrats produced just two days earlier - shouldn't be jammed through the chamber with short-circuited debate.

Let us not forget that Mr Obama, this same year, excoriated earmarks and used the following as an example for same:

That had marked a reversal from earlier this year, when Mr. Obama had decried pork-laden bills and had even vowed to veto a bill that included funding for an alternate production line for an engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter - both of which were included in the spending bill.

But wait; there's more. Harry Reid, in a perfect example of what is entirely wrong with DC, said:

2. Earmarks Are What We're Supposed To Do:

Again, from The Washington Times:

That's our job. That's what we're supposed to do," Mr. Reid, Nevada Democrat, said as he chastised fellow senators who, while having requested pork-barrel spending earlier this year, are now decrying their inclusion in the spending bill.

Mr. Reid challenged those senators to voluntarily agree to strip their own earmarks out of the bill, and said so far, nobody has taken him up on that.

Earmarks are just one of the fights that have broken out over the 1,924-page spending bill, which Democrats unveiled this week and have said they'll soon push to have lawmakers vote on.

As of noon, official copies of the bill were still not available in the Senate's document room, though versions were available online and in the Congressional Record.

Again, I bring up the BZ Truth In Spending Policy:

If a given DC politician wants to bring pork home for museums or oyster safety or maple syrup research, then each earmark should have its own stand-alone bill. Each point or potential bill should require its own numbered application. Then: 1) citizens would be able to SEE just how MANY ridiculous porkulets there were; 2) DC pols would have to actually VOTE on each one -- which would at least mandate a small amount of energy be expended before spending taxpayers' cash and 3) taxpayers could scrutinize politicians more closely and be able to better gauge their spending habits and trends. NO RIDERS.

Those in DC still do not "get" the message broadcasted, lo, just one month ago.

BZ