A Surprising and Welcome Change...

• House Democratic leaders banned Wednesday the practice of doling out multimillion-dollar, no-bid contracts to private contractors, a move that will shake up the lobbying industry that has come to rely on securing these so-called earmarks for their corporate clients.

How will those newly fiscally disciplined Republicans react? Jeff Flake, R-AZ is the staunchest opponent of earmarks. Yet because Dems did this, all he could do was say it wasn't enough. It's more than your party ever attempted to do, bitch! Get with the program.

• ...the fiscal 2010 budget included more than 1,000 earmarks to private companies, through which businesses reaped billions of dollars. Most of those earmarks were culled from the Pentagon's annual budget.

Anything that reduces the influence that members of the Appropriations Committees have is fine by me. Earmarks are not driving the budgetary excesses of the last decade, but they really skew the intended process for spending tax dollars. I heartily applaud this move...
- posted by john @ 7:30 PM