Back in late March, I wrote a column I titled “Amusing” about the Republican moratorium on earmarks. You can read the full column HERE.

I wrote at that time:

The Republican moratorium on earmarks is a nice thought, but I wondered why they did not think of this when they were in control. Is it another campaign gimmick or has the GOP finally decided to be fiscally conservative?

So here it is late August, and the Great Falls Tribune is catching up to that story with a story of their own with the headline, “Rehberg’s earmark ban: stunt or reform” by a reporter named Elizabeth Bewley from the Tribune Washington Bureau. The article does not appear to be on-line yet.

Since it’s hardly “new” news I won’t spend much time on it.

Maybe the earmark ban is a political stunt to get votes (it appears to be working as the Democrats may lose the majority in the House and maybe the Senate in November) but this is hardly the first time it was tried. It was first used as a campaign stunt way back in 2006 by candidate Jon Tester. We all know by now he was caught on tape saying at an October 9, 2006, PBS debate in Bozeman, “I don’t support earmarks, period.” A few seconds later, he added, “I’m not for earmarks.”

Ms. Bewley failed to do the research and did not find that piece of information, though. Continue reading →