Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) will push again for a one-year moratorium on earmarks, piggybacking on reports that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) may consider such a measure.

DeMint is likely to force a vote on the earmarks ban by offering a motion to suspend the rules this week at the conclusion of the Senate debate on an extenders bill.

The conservative senator renewed his push for an earmarks ban, which is similar to one he offered at the height of the healthcare debate in December, after reports indicated Pelosi may enact a complete ban on earmarks for one year.

“Nancy Pelosi and I don’t agree on many things, but if she’s willing to take a stand for taxpayers, I’ll work with her to put an end to the earmark favor factory,” DeMint said Monday in a statement.

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March 8th, 2010, Washington, DC–From ALG News’ Capitol Hill Correspondent Derek Baker:

In the Senate, late last week, Sen. Gregg said out loud what appears to have been on many Democrat’s minds. Gregg, discussing the current Dem strategy of having the House vote on the Senate-passed bill first, then voting on a reconciliation bill to “fix” the remaining problems with it, flatly stated, “If you’re in the House and you’re saying, ‘Well, I’m going to vote for this because I’m going to get a reconciliation bill,’ I would think twice about that. First because, procedurally, it’s going to be hard to put a reconciliation bill through the Senate. Second because I’m not sure there’s going to be a lot of energy to do it, from the president or his people.” Read the rest of this entry »

March 5th, 2010–Following a small bounce in support following his health care summit last week, President Obama has continued to try to rally House Democrats to vote for his health care overhaul. He wants the legislation approved by the Senate passed in December as a “first step” towards further improvements of the plan.

However, most U.S. voters (55%) would rather see Congress scrap the original plan and start all over again, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

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