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October 20, 2005BELTWAY BLOGROLL
PorkBusters Fight Goes To Senate Floor
No piece of "pork" serves as a better symbol for the blogosphere's PorkBusters campaign against earmarked spending in lawmakers' districts than the "Bridge to Nowhere" in Alaska. Now that one project has become the focus of a blog-inspired fight in the Senate.
Conservative Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., is leading the charge against the bridge, which would connect the 8,9000 people in Ketchikan to Gravina Island, which has a population of 50. The bridge would be higher than the Brooklyn Bridge in New York and about as high as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, even though it would serve relatively few people. A ferry currently connects the island with Ketchikan.
As the Senate debates a spending bill to fund the Transportation Department in fiscal 2006, Coburn is touting an amendment that would redirect the $223 million for the bridge approved as part of the recent highway authorization law toward bridge work in Louisiana made necessary by the destruction of Hurricane Katrina. Debate on the amendment is expected today, and bloggers have rallied in support of it. The blog of the conservative Club For Growth has a roundup of bloggers supporting the amendment -- and they include the liberal Daily Kos.
"Okay, this is one of those once-in-a-decade moments where we can forge a left-right alliance on a policy issue, no matter how unholy such alliance might be," wrote Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas Zuniga. "That the hateful Tom Coburn is leading the charge is, well ... strange bedfellows and all.
"Folks, this is a big deal," added Andrew Roth of the Club for Growth. "The entire PorkBusters blog initiative has helped bring this moment to a head. Now is the time to be even more resilient. Everything we've worked for is now within reach."
UPDATE: The debate began earlier this morning, and Roth is live-blogging it.
UPDATE: The Senate just voted 86-13 to kill Coburn's first pork-related amendment. The vote shows just how high of a hill the PorkBusters have to climb.
Posted by | 12:52 PM
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» The Coburn Amendment - A Blog Swarm? from The Club for Growth Blog
The blogosphere is starting to rally support for the Coburn Amendment. Glenn at Instapundit (here too), Michelle Malkin, Townhall.com, and RedState.org, plus several others have written about it. And now it looks like we have BIPARTISAN SUPPORT. The bi... [Read More]
Tracked on October 20, 2005 09:34 AM
» The Coburn Amendment - A Blog Swarm? from The Club for Growth Blog
The blogosphere is starting to rally support for the Coburn Amendment. Glenn at Instapundit (here too), Michelle Malkin, Townhall.com, and RedState.org, plus several others have written about it. And now it looks like we have BIPARTISAN SUPPORT. The bi... [Read More]
Tracked on October 20, 2005 10:06 AM
» The Coburn Amendment - A Blog Swarm? from The Club for Growth Blog
The blogosphere is starting to rally support for the Coburn Amendment. Glenn at Instapundit (here too), Michelle Malkin, Townhall.com, and RedState.org, plus several others have written about it. And now it looks like we have BIPARTISAN SUPPORT. The bi... [Read More]
Tracked on October 20, 2005 10:27 AM
» The Coburn Amendment - A Blog Swarm? from The Club for Growth Blog
The blogosphere is starting to rally support for the Coburn Amendment. Glenn at Instapundit (here too), Michelle Malkin, Townhall.com, and RedState.org, plus several others have written about it. And now it looks like we have BIPARTISAN SUPPORT. The bi... [Read More]
Tracked on October 20, 2005 10:55 AM
» Tom Coburn and the Blogosphere from The Club for Growth Blog
Daniel Glover at National Journal has a good roundup of yesterday’s fiasco in the Senate. Here’s an earlier blog post as well.... [Read More]
Tracked on October 21, 2005 12:50 PM
» Earmarks from Hobnobblog
Last week, Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Tom Coburn sent this "Dear Colleague" letter DEAR COLLEAGUE LETTER FROM SENATORS COBURN AND MCCAIN ON EARMARKSFor Immediate ReleaseWednesday, Jan 25, 2006 Dear Colleague:As you know, the American people are cu... [Read More]
Tracked on February 16, 2006 11:04 AM
Comments
The Club for growth can't be wrong all the time.
charles donnelly | 10.25.05 11:28 AM
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ps--Why do you all hide behind those ridiculous tags?
charles donnelly | 10.25.05 11:30 AM
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