(From the Evans-Novak Political Report 7/25)

Senate reformers fear that by running an end-around on a conference on the lobbying and ethics bill, Reid will manage to pass a bill that does not include earmark transparency in the Senate. The plan is to "ping-pong" the bill -- to scrap the current bill, which reform Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) will not allow to go to conference because he cannot get a commitment from the majority to keep the transparency rules in the conference report, and pass a new bill through both houses. This move would allow a bill to go through that has big loopholes for earmarks.

1. Republican leadership has taken a "hands-off" approach to this issue -- letting DeMint fight the fight, but also willing to walk away if he fails. The degree to which Republicans are addicted to pork is perhaps best demonstrated by their unwillingness to embrace what should be one of their best political issues -- and right now, there are not too many good political issues for Senate Republicans.
2. Whereas the dictatorial procedures in the House have kept members in line voting to preserve almost all earmarks, the tremendous power of each senator makes it much harder to keep them in line preserving the system of favors. For that reason, Senate earmark reform is potentially much more effective and dangerous, even if the Senate adopts precisely the same reforms as the House.
3. Senators and congressmen of both parties are touchy about their ability to feed their states and districts with earmarked funds. Nowhere could this be seen as clearly as when the office of Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) produced a lengthy tract this week defending a $7.5 million Defense earmark that he and nearly all the Republicans in the Nebraska delegation heartily embrace. Criticism of the earmark by Robert Novak's "Inside Report" -- which pointed out that the earmark beneficiary company employs Nelson's son -- ultimately received more attention than it ever would have otherwise.
4. In fact, family members of senators and congressmen from both parties and in all regions of the country have for years benefited directly from the "Washington economy" of lobbying firms and government contractors, many of which would not even exist without the infusions of taxpayer money that earmarks provide each year. They run the ideological gamut from former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) to Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). This has never been considered improper, but few Americans know that a very small number of Washington-connected families negotiate, appropriate and benefit from large expenditures of taxpayer money on a small number of companies through the earmarking process.