Senate Conservatives Blast $12.7 Billion for Earmarks in Emergency Spending Package

All members of the Senate should have an opportunity to vote for or against earmarks contained in the Minibus emergency spending bill, such as the one providing $2.5 million for kayaking and snowboarding experiences for residents of a small town in New Hampshire, according to four Republican lawmakers. “We’ve got 650 pages of nothing but earmarks in this bill and you’ve got over 6,000 separate earmarks. Look, I am sure that some of them are for good things that will benefit good people, and I am sure that some of them satisfy at least part of that [standard] but they aren’t necessarily the prerogative of the federal government,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) told reporters during a Wednesday afternoon news conference in the U.S. Capitol....