Bowing To Tea Party Pressure, McConnell Backs Earmark Ban

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday that he would join his fellow Republicans in opposing earmarks, bowing to pressure from tea party activists who see the special project funding as a prime example of out-of-control government spending.

Speaking from the Senate floor, the Kentucky senator said that, after discussing the issue with his constituents and fellow Republicans he supports the ban against earmarks.

"I know the good that has come from the projects I have helped support throughout my state. I don't apologize for them," McConnell said.

"But there is simply no doubt that the abuse of this practice has caused Americans to view it as a symbol of the waste and the out-of-control spending that every Republican in Washington is determined to fight," he said.

A little more than a week ago, McConnell questioned the value of banning earmarks, a way for lawmakers to use spending bills to funnel federal money to projects in their districts or states.

McConnell has requested $114 million worth of earmarks in spending bills, mostly for Kentucky, for this fiscal year, which Congress has yet to complete, according to the watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste.

Senate Democrats have shown little support for an earmark moratorium. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye has said he supports greater transparency on earmarks but not a ban.

Inouye expressed disappointment in McConnell's statement, adding that it would weaken Congress' power over federal spending.     
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