The Republicans did not learn their lesson, they ignored the clear outrage of the Republican voters who stayed home instead of voting for them last November. I expect earmarks from the Democrats, but I'm getting tired of them from the Republicans. Do we have to raise up another party to get a representative who commits to not wasting the taxpayers' money?
The base is already demoralized, why push us further? These people really don't get it, do they?
It looks like Congress won’t even come close to giving up those irresistible earmarks.
Citizens Against Government Waste, which closely monitors federal spending, is putting the finishing touches on its tally of pork projects in the pending spending bills — and the picture isn’t pretty. The group estimates that there will be at least 8,000 earmarks this year, costing U.S. taxpayers, $18 billion to $20 billion.
Democrats and Republicans alike had promised to curtail the practice of directing money to specific projects.
They have, but not nearly as dramatically as their campaign rhetoric had suggested. In the last fiscal year, when Republicans controlled Congress, there were $29 billion in total earmarks.