TPM reports that Sen. Tom Coburn has introduced an amendment to the stimulus bill that would prevent any spending on “zero-gravity chairs,” “rotating pastel lights,” or “dry heat saunas.” This isn’t the first time the Oklahoma Republican has gone after such taxpayer-funded frivolities. In all the hullabaloo over earmarks, it’s worth remembering that members of Congress can also slip what might be called anti-earmarks into legislation. We recently collected some classic examples of these “inappropriations,” including Coburn’s earlier attempt to reign in an outbreak of relaxation at the CDC, which had blown money on the aforementioned zero-g chairs, pastel lights, and saunas. No doubt a few more proposals to restrict who gets stimulus dollars will surface before the Senate’s done. And one anti-earmark in the House version of the bill is now moot—the one barring Illinois from receiving a single cent until Rod Blagojevic is no longer governor.
