Reid: Earmarks Will Be Back

Obama 'applause lines' not really solving anything
By Mark Russell,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 27, 2011 3:58 AM CST
Reid: Earmarks Will Be Back
Harry Reid speaks to reporters after the weekly caucus luncheons on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2011.   (AP Photo/Harry Hamburg)

"They'll be back." No, not Terminator robots from the future, but something that some may consider nearly as deadly—earmarks. Harry Reid says President Obama is wrong to try to end the practice that allows members of Congress to insert benefits for their home states into bills. "The executive branch of government is powerful enough," the Senate majority leader told ABC News. "I think that I know more about what Nevada needs than some bureaucrat down on K Street."

"I understand it's great for an applause line, but it's really not solving anything to do with the deficit. It's only for show," said Reid. "Of course they'll be back," he said when asked if he thought earmarks would continue, despite President Obama's State of the Union promise to veto any spending bill that contained them. He also criticized Obama's planned spending freeze, saying it didn't go far enough.
(More Harry Reid stories.)

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