Maybe West Virginia’s two Democrat senators – Robert Bryd and Jay Rockefeller – know something about the plans of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that the rest of us don’t. Or maybe they understand a basic truth about earmark reform that lots of folks in and out of Congress don’t yet grasp. These observations are occasioned by a news story in The Charleston Gazette that quotes Byrd as saying fun and games with earmarks return to normal once the Democrats get past the last remnants of GOP control of the appropriations process: “Byrd s office explained that sometime in the summer, after first getting a hand on appropriations made by Republicans prior to the Democratic Senate takeover in November, earmarking funds for specific road projects will again take place.” You will recall that during the lame-duck session of Congress following the November election, many of the earmarks in some of the 2007 appropriations were removed. Democrats pledged to respect those actions once they took over in January. But Byrd – who boasts of his prowess as the “King of Pork” in Congress – has long been a conspicuous opponent of genuine earmark reform and can be expected to be eager to again take full advantage of his return to being chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee after a dozen years in the minority. Earmarks Senate Democrats Corruption GOP
