The Loneliness of the Anti-Earmark Crusader

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While we’re on the subject of earmarks…the Post has a discouraging snippet in a piece about defense pork that shows just how tough it is to get rid of even the most ludicrous projects. The piece notes that Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) has vowed to try and remove 540 earmarks for no-bid contracts from the defense budget bill. The catch? “His prior earmark-stripping efforts have succeeded only once in dozens of attempts, and never on defense spending.”

Update: The House is debating Flake’s amendments now (he’s offered one for every no-bid earmark). You can follow along on Twitter if you’d like a blow-by-blow on all 540 of them. They’re up to 315 right now…

 

 

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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