The senate rejected a ban on earmarks today. 8 Republicans joined democrats in rejecting the ban.
The eight Republicans in opposition were:
Robert Bennett of Utah
Thad Cochran of Mississippi
Susan Collins of Maine
James Inhofe of Oklahoma
Richard Lugar of Indiana
Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
Richard Shelby of Alabama
George Voinovich of Ohio
The Politico reported:
Thirty-nine senators voted Tuesday in support of a three-year moratorium on appropriations earmarks, the strongest showing ever by opponents of the current process and a potential game changer in the year-end budget debate.
Seven Democrats backed the proposal, and the party leadership will have to decide now whether to strip out or weaken draft language in an omnibus spending bill that currently sets aside billions for home-state projects.
The massive bill already represents a serious bipartisan effort to reach a compromise by cutting up to $26 billion from President Barack Obama’s 2011 budget. And with nearly 40 senators supporting the moratorium, the Appropriations Committee leadership faces the threat of endless delays if some accommodation is not reached.
