WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- The U.S. Senate's $1.2 trillion spending bill has more than 6,000 earmarks, seen by some as a last gasp before a more conservative Congress convenes.
The $8 billion in earmarks drew cries of foul from senators, many of whom signed a pledge to swear off steering funds to pet projects in their districts to answer a voting public desirous of Washington curbing its spending appetite, The Washington Post reported.
"The American people said just 42 days ago, 'Enough!' ... Are we tone deaf? Are we stricken with amnesia?" Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a leading earmark critic, asked on the Senate floor.
Democratic aides said the $8 billion earmark sum is less than 1 percent of the entire bill.
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The bill designed to keep government running through Sept. 30, 2011, includes $18 million for two non-profits associated with deceased Democrats, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and Rep. John P. Murtha; $349,000 for swine waste management in North Carolina, and $6 million for a rural Iowa school program named after Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, known for his ability to steer federal dollars to his home state, reluctantly agreed to a moratorium on the practice to send a signal to voters Republicans are serious about reining in spending, the Post said. Yet the bill includes several requests by McConnell, including $650,000 for a genetic technology center at the University of Kentucky, an analysis by the non-partisan watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense.
McConnell said Tuesday rushing consideration of the bill has forced him to try to block it through a filibuster.
"I'm going to vote against things that arguably would benefit my state. I do not think this is the appropriate way to run the Senate," he said, stopping short of asking that his projects be removed.
Senators may vote as soon as Thursday, but the bill's fate is unclear, the Post said.
