March 2, 2009: Obama beats early retreat on promise to fight pork (AP)

  • Arizona Sen. John McCain said it is “insulting to the American people” for Obama’s budget director to indicate over the weekend that the president will sign a $410 billion spending bill with what Republicans critics say is nearly $5.5 billion in pet projects known as earmarks.
  • “I just went through a campaign … where both candidates promised change in Washington, promised change from the wasteful, disgraceful, corrupting practice of earmarked, pork-barrel spending,” McCain said. “So what we doing here? Not only business as usual, (but) an outrageous insult to the American people.”

HOME | ARCHIVE