Welcome to Spend City

Then there was the Senate Vote-a-Rama. A database search indicates Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) coined the term 10 years ago, and it has since become semi-official. "At 1:30 p.m. today the Senate will begin the Vote-a-Rama," the Republican leadership announced yesterday morning.

Fiscal restraint unraveled almost immediately. Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) rose to ask for $3.3 billion for home-heating assistance. "We have to stand up and make sure we take care of our people," Reed pleaded.

Budget Chairman Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) appealed for discipline. "I hope we defeat the amendment because it's basically a tax-and-spend amendment," he said. It passed.

Minutes later, Specter asked for his $7 billion for domestic programs. "We have gone beyond the fat, beyond the muscle, beyond the bone and into the marrow, and this funding will help us a little" was Specter's plea. Gregg didn't even try to argue.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) wanted $1.2 billion related to airline security. He got it. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), by contrast, tried to cut spending by $10 billion. He lost.

The floor leaders pleaded for mercy. "With the number of amendments still pending, we will be here until 2 o'clock this morning," Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) urged. "I ask colleagues: Please, show forbearance."

But Vote-a-Ramas are not about forbearance; they are about spending money. When Specter visited the press gallery to talk about his $7 billion, a reporter asked if the senator had employed "sort of a gimmick" to evade budget rules.

"It's not sort of a gimmick," Specter deadpanned. "It is a gimmick."