Spending freeze targets pet projects for members of Congress

McClatchy Washington Bureau reported Democratic leaders in the new Congress plan to strip funding for thousands of pet projects for individual members, a big display of fiscal discipline they say will help cut deficits and curb spending abuses. As soon as they take control on Jan. 4, Democrats plan to impose a one-year moratorium on all special projects,

Why a one year moratorium. If they are bad, there should be a permanent moratorium. A one year moratorium just means you are killing Republican pork, to later replace it with Democratic pork. Make the moratorium permanent, and you will achieve real deficit cutting and elimination of spending abuses. Then if you will also eliminate forced spending on Democratic pet projects, you will go a long way to doing what the Republicans should have done, but did not do, cutting the size of government.

known as earmarks, effectively killing those that were tucked into unfinished spending bills by the Republican-led Congress.