Senate defeats effort to ban earmarks

WASHINGTON -- The Senate voted last week against an amendment that sought to ban all earmarked spending for one year.

Senators voted 68-29 to kill a proposal by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., for a moratorium on spending that is inserted into appropriations bills directed to specific projects or companies.

Taxpayers for Common Sense estimated $15.9 billion was spent in fiscal 2010 on such directed spending.

Opponents of the amendment said banning earmarks would not necessarily mean less spending, but it would mean that federal officials would make decisions about where money is spent as opposed to lawmakers who are tuned into constituents.

Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, called it "a misguided attempt which would turn over the power of the purse to the executive branch. It will not save a penny toward the deficit."

"We can talk about our theories all we want, but what we are doing is not working," DeMint said. "With all of our debt, the corruption, the waste, every American has a right to question what we are doing right now."

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., voted to ban earmarks while Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., voted against the earmark ban.

Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760.