Obama’s earmarks fight

When one thinks of President Obama’s looming battles on Capitol Hill, healthcare, global warming, taxes and spending are issues that come to mind.

But recent events indicate that earmark reform should be added to the list, because unless Obama and congressional leaders reach a deal, there is a huge battle on the horizon.

Obama made some detailed promises on earmark reform, but many Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill are already signaling they are ready to fight him on the issue.

On Tuesday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Congress is in no hurry to embrace Obama’s reforms: “I don’t think the White House has the ability to tell us what to do.”

He did add that Obama is free to make suggestions.

Anti-earmark crusader Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), meanwhile, is furious that Obama is not speaking out against the thousands of earmarks in the omnibus.

McCain has mocked the White House’s claim that the omnibus is “last year’s business,” noting that President Bush will not be signing it into law.

McCain is right. Obama’s rationale for not getting involved in the $410 billion budget bill is weak. The White House has vowed, however, to change the “rules of the road going forward” on appropriations bills. That promise is admirable, but it will be tough to keep.

The Washington Post reported that Obama last week spent about 20 minutes with Democratic leaders in an effort to make the earmark process more transparent. A plan has not yet emerged, and it’s unlikely that any deal has been reached.

Earmarks divided the GOP for years. Now the issue is starting to split Democrats.

Congressional Democrats portray earmarks as an issue of the separation of powers, and say that the Bush White House usurped power from the legislative branch. They are also well-aware that Obama only stopped securing earmarks after he launched his bid for the White House.

Obama, in turn, knows there are many powerful Democratic members who are fond of earmarks, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.), Rep. John Murtha (Pa.) and Sen. Robert Byrd (W.Va.).

Democrats point out that they have already made the earmark process more transparent, which is true. But they need to do more.

The practice of “airdropping” earmarks into appropriations conference reports must be banned. If members want their earmarks, the projects need to be requested out in the open, not inserted at the last second and buried in thousands of pages of legislative text.

Obama has an ambitious agenda for 2009, and he is bound to take some lumps along the way.

The White House should spend some of his political capital on reforming the earmark process, though it would be in the best interests of Democratic congressional leaders and the president to strike a deal.