From the New York Times:
Some critics argue that the Democrats’ proposal to disclose authorship may not do much to curb earmarks. “Transparency would be enough if we had any shame, if you were embarrassed to get an earmark for the National Wild Turkey Federation,” said Representative Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, referring to a $234,000 earmark in a recent agricultural bill. “But Republicans and Democrats have shown that is no longer any embarrassment.” Mr. Flake recently recommended to Ms. Pelosi a rule change that would make it easier to strip members’ projects out of spending bills, but no one expects either party to take that up anytime soon.
There is no mention of anything similar to earmarks in our Constitution, they should be banned entirely anyway. With government scandal and rampant spending, there is little justification for spending that never even has to face a vote on the floor of either house.
I would love to see a Supreme Court ruling on the Constitutionality of earmarks, isn’t it the job of the Judiciary to check unconstitutional actions by congress?