Editor’s note; on some of the DAD-WI posts, I had used “AFP-WI”. Oh well; the dangers of live-blogging).
Next, Rich Zipperer. He’s hammering on a lot of earmarks in the last budget, inserted at the last second. His earmark transparency act (I’ve got some details somewhere in the archives; if I get the time, I’ll link back to it) isn’t to get rid of earmarks, though it would be a good thing; it’s to expose them to the light of day.
It’s too easy to slip earmarks past the watchdogs, both in old media and new media, right now.
Going through the budget process. Even in the first draft from the governor’s office, earmarks can be snuck in through the departments. The bill would make the gov put his name behind all of the earmarks.
The next step is the Joint Finance Committee. Now, it takes a majority to take out an earmark. The bill would make it a majority to keep it, and would create an earmark report naming names.
After that, it’s to each house. The bill will require any additional earmarks to be reported 48 hours before a vote.
Then, it’s the conference committee, and the real big earmarks, airdrops, sneak in. The bill would stop it dead.
