The Loneliness of the Anti-Earmark Crusader

While we’re on the subject of earmarks…the Post has a discouraging snippet in a piece about defense pork that shows just how tough it is to get rid of even the most ludicrous projects. The piece notes that Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) has vowed to try and remove 540 earmarks for no-bid contracts from the defense budget bill. The catch? “His prior earmark-stripping efforts have succeeded only once in dozens of attempts, and never on defense spending.”

Update: The House is debating Flake’s amendments now (he’s offered one for every no-bid earmark). You can follow along on Twitter if you’d like a blow-by-blow on all 540 of them. They’re up to 315 right now…