Will Blunt Join McCaskill and Obama in Fight Against Earmarks?

The St. Louis Tea Party has been engaging in some political theater lately, pretending to be surprised that Roy Blunt still thinks of earmarks the same way he's always thought of earmarks. But it's worth noting that both President Obama and Senator Claire McCaskill have come out against earmarks. President Obama made them a focus of his weekly address:



And here's what Senator McCaskill had to say:

WASHINGTON, D.C. - As one of Congress's leading proponents of earmark reform, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill made the following statement following President Barack Obama's weekly address in which he called on all members of Congress to help reform the earmark process.

"Earmark reform has been a lonely fight for a long time, so it's encouraging to have others taking this issue seriously, especially among Democrats since I will be the only senator from my party opposing earmarks after the new year," McCaskill said. "The bottom line is that tax dollars shouldn't be doled out based on politics or secret deals, and it's time both Democrats and Republicans join together to stop them."

McCaskill has been leading the battle against earmarks since she was elected in 2006. In addition to never requesting any earmarks, she has introduced legislation to ban the practice. She views earmark reform as one way to help return fiscal responsibility to Washington. Her other efforts to curb government spending include a proposed cap on discretionary spending, pay-as-you-go legislation, and cracking down on federal contracting waste and fraud.

What a great opportunity for Roy Blunt to cooperate with Democrats on meaningful reform!