John Solomon & Jeffrey Birnbaum: But the new majority is already skirting its own reforms. Perhaps the biggest retreat from that pledge came this week, when House Appropriations Committee Chairman David R. Obey (D-Wis.) told fellow lawmakers that he intends to keep requests for earmarks out of pending spending bills, at least for now. Obey … Continue reading Earmarks, “Phonemarking”, Congressional Excesses and Wisconsin Representative David Obey