Earmark Rule Evaded?
Last night, I learned from a source on the Hill that the new earmark reform rule was already being manipulated by a pork-loving Congressman.
The longer version of this story is detailed here by Captain Ed. The shorter version is that a bill was debated on last night under suspension of the rules; therefore the new earmark reform rule technically didn't apply. Congressman James Oberstar (who went 0-for-19 on the Flake amendments) used that opportunity to insert some pork into the bill without claiming it as his own.
Yesterday, before debate on the bill started, the earmark was found and the author of it was subsequently identified as Oberstar. This was then brought to the attention of Majority Leader Boehner. To his credit, I'm told that Boehner asked Oberstar to go to the House floor to explain the situation.
Below is a video of Oberstar on the floor claiming that the earmark wasn't really an earmark along with Congressman Jeff Flake who expresses his frustration with this whole hide-and-go-seek game about putting pork into bills under suspension. There are no fireworks in this video, but it is a good debate, and it does provide us with a glimpse at how sincere or insincere House members plan to be with regards to the letter and the spirit of the earmark rule.
