House Democrat calls out Republicans for defying their party on earmark ban

A top House Democrat has issued an ultimatum to Republicans with the potential for political sting: Withdraw earmarks seeking millions of taxpayer dollars for pet projects or be prepared to stand behind them.

Rep. James L. Oberstar (D-Minn.), chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, told House Republicans in a letter Thursday that their earmark requests will remain in his committee's bill on water resources projects unless they are withdrawn in 12 days.

House Republican leaders, who proposed a moratorium on earmarks in March, accused Oberstar of trying to score political points and said he was aware that many Republicans have already asked the committee's ranking member, Rep. John L. Mica (Fla.), to withdraw their requests.

"It's a paperwork issue," Mica said. "We are happy to provide those letters to Congressman Oberstar. Most of our members plan to comply."

But Republican leaders acknowledged that 10 to 20 of their members have not withdrawn their requests . And several GOP lawmakers do not agree with the moratorium , complicating the party's effort to portray itself as a force against wasteful spending.

Four Republican lawmakers have publicly said they will not comply with the moratorium. That group includes a senior member of Oberstar's committee, Rep. Don Young (Alaska). The others are Reps. Anh "Joseph" Cao (La.), Henry E. Brown Jr. (S.C.) and Ron Paul (Tex.).

Young and Paul were the first to submit earmark requests in violation of the moratorium, followed by freshman Cao.

"This doesn't change anything as far as Congressman Cao is concerned," his spokesman, Taylor Henry, said Friday. "He never said he was going to go along with the conference. He certainly doesn't intend to change that now."

Young might be best known for requesting Alaska's infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" earmark. He has equated earmarks with serving his constituents, telling his local paper that as long as constituents "continue to request federal funding for their projects of interest, then I will continue to do my best to accommodate them."

Cao said that his New Orleans district is hurting far too much since Hurricane Katrina to forgo federal funds for waterway and Port of New Orleans rebuilding. He has asked for 76 earmarks worth about $517 million and said the region's needs for the projects outweigh his party's needs for cohesion.

Earmarks, once viewed by members of appropriation committees as a tangible tool to show how lawmakers were helping their districts, are hardly a selling point on the campaign trail this year. As polls show rising frustration with the federal government's size and spending habits, earmarks have become a potent symbol of Washington excess.

"Bragging about bringing home the bacon has a little less resonance than it had in the past," said Steve Ellis, a vice president at Taxpayers for Common Sense, a government spending watchdog group. "Earmarks can be pretty good for raising campaign cash, but I don't think they really deliver you that much in votes -- not now."

Ellis said, however, there could be a political downside to withdrawing a request. A challenger could say a member didn't stand up for his district. "There is a bit of political gamesmanship on both sides of this," he said.

House Democrats agreed this year to ban earmarks to for-profit firms, but that leaves open the sizable earmarks steered to companies through universities and research institutions.