State of Union: Pet Projects

By: Associated Press | WSLS 10
Published: January 28, 2008

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WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush is looking to crack down on pork barrel spending in Congress and will use his State of the Union address tonight to announce his efforts to do that.
The move comes as "earmarking" -- or the practice of slipping pet projects into spending bills -- comes under continued criticism from watchdog groups and voters.
Bush will announce tonight that he'll veto any spending bill that doesn't cut the number and cost of congressional pet projects in half.
He'll also issue an executive order tomorrow requiring federal agencies to ignore earmarks that aren't explicitly enacted into law.
Still, Democrats say they have cut their earmarks in half and made them more transparent. And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says Republican lawmakers may say they oppose earmarks, but that they want them "when it comes down to it."