Thursday, March 5, 2009; Page A07
The Senate approved $10 million in funding yesterday for clients of a now-disbanded lobbying firm that is under federal investigation for alleged fraud in political contributions to members of Congress, while approving an additional $16 million for pet projects such as a water-taxi service and manure management.
Rejecting efforts to strip the items, the Senate voted to leave the earmarks in a $410 billion spending bill that will fund most federal agencies through September. The bipartisan votes represent the steep climb that reformers, including President Obama and House Republican leaders, face as they seek to curb earmarks.
"We have a broken system that breeds this sort of behavior," Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said during a tense debate.
McCain and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), the main sponsor of yesterday's amendments, have lost at every turn this week in their effort to curb earmarks, which are narrow funding requests inserted into the annual spending bills. They thought their best chance was removing the earmarks for 13 clients of the PMA Group, a lobbying firm with close ties to senior House Democrats that is under investigation for suspicious campaign donations. continue...
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