This is how you "Grind the Sausage."
GOP punishes foes, strips more earmarks
Omnibus codifies the harsh new House discipline
By Hans Nichols "The Hill"
More than 100 House members of both parties, have been denied any portion of the $750 million in district earmarks in the Veterans Affairs (VA), housing and Urban Development (HUD) and independent agencies spending bill.
They are being punished by GOP House leadership, with the support of the ranking Democrat on the committee, Alan Mollohan (W.Va.), for voting against the VA-HUD package last July.
The money is included in the FY 2004 catchall spending bill, which the House is expected to approve when it returns for a one-day session next week.
The denial of the earmarks parallels an earlier decision by Rep. Ralph Regula (R-Ohio), chairman of the Labor, Health and Human Services Subcommittee, to deny Democrats any of the $180 million that would have been designated for district projects.
Taken together, the denial of earmarks in the two spending bills codifies a Republican plan to instill a Pavlovian response into lawmakers: If you vote against a bill, don’t expect any earmarks.
But the VA-HUD recrimination scheme had the support of Subcommittee Chairman Jim Walsh (R-N.Y.) and Mollohan, angering his fellow Democrats.
“Some members weren’t really happy when they realized that Mollohan had gone along with Walsh on that one,” said a Democratic leadership aide.
“He’s was bit embarrassed when that was brought up in caucus [three weeks ago],” the aide added.
Mollohan’s office did not return phone calls seeking comment by press time.
“I can’t say for certain if all earmarks were taken out of VA-HUD, but we came pretty close,” said a Republicans Appropriations Committee staffer.
“Something small may have gotten through on EDI [Economic Development Initiative], but that wasn’t our intention. That wasn’t the rule,” the staffer said.
The rule held more so for the Labor-HHS bill than for the VA-HUD bill, according to a Republican leadership aide.
The punishment planned against lawmakers, especially Democrats, for opposing appropriations bills was slightly blunted by the last-minute appearance of roughly $50 million in conference negotiations.
The unexpected existence of what became known as the “ash and trash” fund was divided 65 to 35 percent between Republicans and Democrats and gave ranking Democrat David Obey (Wis.) $20 million to dispense, numerous sources confirmed.
Obey directed $16 million in earmarked projects to Democrats who typically would have been funded under the Labor-HHS title.
He designated the remaining $4 million to VA-HUD-type programs — projects that normally would have been set aside in the official bill, said appropriations aides.
However, both Republicans and Democrats emphasized that the $20 million was only a fraction of what is usually designated for earmarks in the two bills.
Republicans who opposed the Labor-HHS bill did not receive such a reprieve. Of the nine who voted against final passage, none received earmarks, said an appropriations aide.
There is some debate over whether or not such hard-nosed tactics represents a new way of doing business in the annals of Appropriations Committee lore.
John Scofield, spokesman for the committee, said, “It’s customary practice for all bills.”
“So this should come as no surprise. It’s a time-honored tactic we learned from the Democrats,” said Scofield.
But House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), herself a former appropriator, disputed that charge.
“Once again, Republicans are playing fast and loose with the facts. They claim that Democrats did the same thing with the Labor-HHS bill, but that simply is not true,” said Pelosi.
“Now Republicans are telling Democrats that because you voted for America’s children, your constituents will suffer. That is outrageous,” Pelosi said.
But Republicans credited Regula for breathing new life into a principle that is often ignored. Regula, a Republican who in the past has been praised for his bipartisan comity, decided to punish Democrats en masse for their blanket opposition to the bill.
“The difference this year is that the Democrats felt they could push Mr. Regula around, but Mr. Regula pushed right back,” said John Feehery, spokesman for Speaker J. Dennis Haster (R-Ill.).
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