Our own wedge issue: An anti-earmarking amendment?

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Monday June 05, 2006 · 12:14 PM PDT

2006/06/05 · 12:14

Our dear friends the Republicans have launched an (ahem) abortive attempt to rally the social conservative base with a constitutional amendment to save us from bridal parties where everyone wears a tux.

Why not show them how a real wedge issue works, and further demoralize their base?

Rough proposal below.

Along with immigration, pork barrel politics is probably the area where the Republican Congress is least popular with its base. Of course, they have therefore decided to simply avoid talking about the subject to the extent possible.

Why let them get away with that shameful silence?

I humbly suggest that we introduce an amendment in Congress to control the practice of earmarking. Among the possible forms this could take:

1. A flat-out ban on the practice.

2. A requirement that all ear-marks get an individual "up or down" vote. In other words, forbid earmarks from either being lumped into one big omnibus spending bill, or from being added as an amendment to another bill.

#1 has more political bite (due to its simplicity) but #2 has the advantage of being a preferable policy prescription.

If Congressional Democrats introduce this legislation, you can be damn sure that the Trent(Spenda)Lott and Ted Stevens caucus of the Republican party will do everything they can do to stop it. How will GOP-led efforts to kill this Democratic initiative play with their base?

Now, I can hear concerns about some Democrats not being willing to vote for such measure. Remember, though, that the most important feature of such an amendment is that there's no way that the Congressional GOP will let it pass. None.

That means the vote breakdown will take one of two forms, in the eyes of the GOP base:

1) Democrats support it, GOoPers oppose it. "Democrats are the party of fiscal restraint"; or

2) It gets killed because both Democrats and Republicans oppose it. "The Republicans are just like the Democrats. I'm staying home in November."

Any thoughts on why this is a great idea, a terrible idea, or how it could be made better?

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