Bush Vs Earmarks

In a White House speech earlier today, the President praised Congress for finally passing a budget, and scolded them for the vast amount of Pork contained therein. Yet, the Club for Growth contends that Bush could legally sweep away the Congressional pet projects:

During a press conference, he announced his disappointment with the number of earmarks in the recent Omnibus spending bill. He said:

"I am instructing the budget director to review options for dealing with the wasteful spelling in the omnibus bill.”

This is president-ese for "through an executive order, I might tell the respective agencies to ignore the earmarks and to spend the money on higher priorities."

This is a HUGE deal. With his signature, Bush could effectively wipe away almost all of this year's earmarks. It would easily be the biggest achievement on wasteful spending of all time. And it would set a wonderful precedent for the future that would deter the abuse of earmarks by members of Congress.

What a boon this would be for our economy, suffering as it is with so much waste from the Imperial Congress. Both Republicans and Democrats have proven unable to control themselves when trusted with the fortunes of taxpayers. Now they must be reigned in like spoiled children. The Line Item Veto failed the test, so more stringent measures must be applied.