The Coburn Amendment - A Blog Swarm?
The blogosphere is starting to rally support for the Coburn Amendment. Glenn at Instapundit (here too), Michelle Malkin, Townhall.com, and RedState.org, plus several others have written about it. And now it looks like we have BIPARTISAN SUPPORT. The biggest liberal blog out there, the Daily Kos, is on board as well. For a refresher, the Coburn Amendment defunds the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" pork project that Congressman Don Young of Alaska decided to slip into the Highway Bill in the middle of the night. Instead of satisfying Young's vanity, the Coburn Amendment would send the $220 million saved and give it to Katrina relief efforts. It's a very simple amendment, but it is has some serious potential. As of last night, the opposition is putting up a big fight. They sense this amendment, if successful, as establishing a precedent. A precedent where all pork is vulnerable and no lawmaker is safe. And they can't allow that to happen. Procedure-wise, Coburn has to successfully defend his proposal as "germane" to the Treasury Transportation HUD Appropriations bill (THUD), which he plans to attach the amendment to. If he wins his argument, the amendment could be voted on today. Folks, this is a big deal. The entire PORKBUSTERS blog initiative has helped bring this moment to a head. Now is the time to be even more resilient. Everything we've worked for is now within reach. And this isn't happening in the next month or the next week. It's happening TODAY or TOMORROW. We've got to get moving on this. For more information, read all of the links above. And I'll try to keep you posted as I learn more. UPDATE (9:00am): Powerline writes about the Coburn Amdt. So does Alpha Patriot. Mark Tapscott writes that "this could be a defining moment for America." UPDATE (9:12am): Tim Chapman has identified one Senator who is AGAINST the amendment. UPDATE (9:31am): Daniel Glover of National Journal writes, "No piece of "pork" serves as a better symbol for the blogosphere's PorkBusters campaign against earmarked spending in lawmakers' districts than the "Bridge to Nowhere" in Alaska. Now that one project has become the focus of a blog-inspired fight in the Senate." UPDATE (10:03am): Okay, I just learned that Senator Coburn is heading to the Senate floor right now. If the parliamentarian rules against the current bridge amendment as written, I'm hearing that Coburn will offer an amendment to prohibit ANY funds from being used on both the Gravina Island Bridge (Bridge to Nowhere) and the Knik Arm Bridge (Don Young's Way). If the parliamentarian plays nice, then he may offer both amendments. Either way, there will be a vote to kill that bridge. UPDATE (10:25am): Coburn is speaking now. If you aren't near a TV, you can watch here. UPDATE (10:37am): Coburn is just warming up. He's got a slew of amendments and he's currently going after a sculpture park in Washington state. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) is on the floor presumably ready to defend it. UPDATE (10:49am): I've created a new blog post for all updates. GO HERE.
