Jon Kyl Slips $200 Million Past Tea Party Earmark Ban

"Kyl Hounded For $200M 'Earmark' -- But Experts Say It Doesn't Break GOP Ban”.

“But experts insisted to TPM today that what Kyl did isn't nearly as clear or egregious as the AP made it out to be.”

“Two anti-earmark watchdogs I spoke with today took something of a similar line -- saying that what Kyl did isn't earmarking in the official sense. But, one suggested, that may not matter as much as Kyl might hope it does“

.“Ellis said Leahy and the Democrats jumping on Kyl today may actually be jumping the gun instead.”

"Despite Sen. Leahy's gleeful protestations to the contrary, there's no way Congress (Republican or Democrat) would consider this an official earmark -- too much money," he told me. The government was going to have to pay the Arizona tribe at some point, Ellis said, so "so Uncle Sam was going to be coming up with the cash whether or not Sen. Kyl got it in," Ellis said.”

“Ellis' group is vehemently anti-earmark, and he said that last year's federal budget had "$6 billion worth of provisions we considered an earmark that Congress did not." Kyl's addition to the settlement bill "leads you down the earmark path," Ellis said, but he added, "I don't think this would violate the Senate GOP moratorium, because that is based on the Senate earmark definition."

“Citizens Against Government Waste, a conservative-leaning anti-earmark group whose distaste for the practice equals Taxpayers for Common Sense, didn't see the nuance that Ellis did. President Tom Schatz told me that what Kyl did wasn't an earmark -- in fact, he said it didn't even raise any hackles with his crew at all.”

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/11/did-jon-kyl-score-a-200m-earmark-three-days-after-ban.php#more

Bill Hedges of MO 7:45PM November 29, 2010