Senate GOP passes earmark ban to Dems chagrin

Senate Dems defend earmarks as GOP votes to ban practice

Senate Democrats on Tuesday defended the congressional system of earmarking even as their GOP colleagues approved a voluntary two-year ban on the practice.

There was scant support among the chamber’s majority party to follow the lead of Republicans who voted in a closed-door conference meeting to ban the practice of tucking home-state pork into appropriations bills. The vote was almost unanimous

The Hill
11/16/10

h/t Majority in Miss