Democrats for the preservation of pork
A Senate source has put out word of a significant battle taking shape in that chamber. Once again, it's the result of the desire of Democratic Senators to preserve pork. Senator Gregg (R-NH) has submitted his Gregg Amendment, which gives the President "rescission authority," allowing him to send wasteful and unnecessary spending back to Congress. It’s a way to require specific Congressional approval (or preferably disapproval) of waste, pork and unnecessary spending items that get tucked into large bills.
Although Democrats have promised real reform, we're told that the Democratic leadership is going to try to block the Gregg Amendment. Minority Leader McConnell is pushing to force the Senate to vote, but Majority Leader Reid wants to prevent this. He has said that if Republicans insist on a vote on this earmark reform, it will be a “long weekend”.
This is the second time in about a week that the Senate Dems have balked at meaningful earmark reform. We described the first instance here. On that occasion, Reid had to back down, though not before suffering considerable embarrassment. Perhaps we'll see a repeat on the Gregg Amendment.
UPDATE: Senators Reid and Gregg are speaking about the Gregg Amendment on C-SPAN.
SECOND UPDATE: We're told that Sen. Reid has agreed to negotiate with Sen. Gregg about the Gregg Amendment.
