Better Late Than Never

OpinionJournal reported It's been years since federal agencies have screamed this loudly about fiscal discipline being imposed on them. GOP Sens. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Jim DeMint of South Carolina have decided to take a stand against overspending by objecting to the nearly 10,000 earmarks, or member-sponsored pork projects, larded throughout the spending bills Congress is currently considering.

Good job, and I am very proud that my Senator was one of the two that did it.

Their obstinacy has convinced the leadership of the departing Republican Congress that they probably won't be able to pass spending bills in next month's short lame-duck session. Instead, they are likely to pass a stopgap "continuing resolution," which will continue funding all programs at last year's level

Poor babies. They have to live with last year's budget.

until the new Democratic Congress passes its own versions of the funding bills. Mr. Coburn says the decision not to pass earmark-stuffed catchall spending bills could save taxpayers a cool $17 billion. All 10,000 earmarks in the pending bills will expire if they aren't passed by the end of the year. Mr. Coburn says the decision of the congressional leadership to instead go for a continuing resolution is a sign Republicans are learning some lessons from their stinging loss of Congress three weeks ago

Blue Crab blogged Effectively, Coburn and DeMint have forced the issue onto the Democrats. They will have to step up and pass the spending bills when they take control. After campaigning on fiscal responsibility, their first test will come almost from the first day they take over. If they continue the favor factory politics, they will have already lost a major battle. This was far from an irresponsible move. It was a bit of fiscal responsibility that should have been done a lot sooner.