McCain earmark ban called unrealistic

WASHINGTON, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- If Republican U.S. presidential nominee John McCain wins, he will have a hard time eliminating congressional earmarks as promised, GOP leaders say.

The new president will be presented with a massive omnibus spending bill containing hundreds of special spending measures known as earmarks in the first days after taking office. If McCain, a U.S. senator from Arizona, is president and tries to eliminate the bill's earmarks, GOP party leaders say Congress would likely revolt, Politico, a Washington publicatin, reported Wednesday.

Some told Politico that, despite what could be seen as an anti-earmark mandate in a McCain victory, it's unrealistic to expect anyone could quickly eliminate them and Congress would fight a perceived infringement on its power of the purse, said U.S. Rep. Ralph Regula, R-Ohio.

"I don't think (banning earmarks) the right approach," said Regula, who has spent three decades on the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee. "I haven't done an earmark I wouldn't be happy to have spread all over the front pages of the paper."

U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young, R-Fla., said: "The Constitution is very specific and very clear about who appropriates money. Not all earmarks are pork-barrel spending."