Ever since House Republicans got their asses handed to them in the 2006 elections, they have periodically announced sweeping new strategies to win back the House, each time with lots of fanfare from the Corporate Media.
One of their major announcements was their war on earmarks, to prove they are the fiscally "responsible" party, after driving the Federal debt up from $5 trillion when Bush started to over $9 trillion now.
Sadly, instead of training their guns on the Democrats, it seems they formed a circular firing squad:
Earmark ban push prompts GOP turmoil
House Republicans, who had hoped to restore their fiscal credibility by bludgeoning Democrats on pork-barrel spending, are instead targeting one another in an intraparty election-year earmark fight that appears to have divided members of the House GOP leadership...
Still reeling from their devastating electoral defeats in 2006, Republicans from the top down have tried to make earmark reform a key platform in their election drive this fall. Many believe it will help them regain some of the credibility on fiscal issues that they squandered during their tenure in power. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the party’s presumptive presidential nominee, has highlighted the issue in an effort to gain an upper hand over his eventual Democratic opponent.
But many GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill still embrace these special projects, and the party has failed to unify behind a single anti-earmark message, prompting some in the party to question the wisdom of highlighting this issue on the campaign trail.
“I think it would be very tricky to get members to support an earmark moratorium at this point in the appropriations process,” said an aide to one top Republican on the Appropriations Committee. “Our members have already submitted thousands of project requests — and then to turn around and support a [moratorium] would allow [Rep. Dave] Obey to say, ‘OK, let’s get rid of all Republican earmarks.’ And then where would we be?”
Obey is chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, and he has made it clear that he would be happy to rid the budget of Republican earmarks if that’s what the minority wants.
Hehe.
