Earmarker Jon Kyl Wants His Cake... And Wants Tea Partiers To Eat Shit

Chances are if you've thought about Jon Kyl for a moment in the last several months, it was about his planned obstructionist agenda regarding putting National Security at risk-- via the START Treaty-- for narrow partisan gain. But that's an Inside-the-Beltway game and even Kyl, who faces a reelection battle back in crazy Arizona in 2012, has to "take care" of the rubes back home. So... remember hearing about how Republicans-- Kyl included-- oppose earmarks? That was waaaaaaayyy back over a week ago almost.

Senate Republicans' ban on earmarks-- money included in a bill by a lawmaker to benefit a home-state project or interest-- was short-lived.

Only three days after GOP senators and senators-elect renounced earmarks, Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, the No. 2 Senate Republican, got himself a whopping $200 million to settle an Arizona Indian tribe's water rights claim against the government.

Kyl slipped the measure into a larger bill sought by President Barack Obama and passed by the Senate on Friday to settle claims by black farmers and American Indians against the federal government.

...Earmarking allows lawmakers to steer federal spending to pet projects in their states and districts. Earmarks take many forms, including road projects, improvements to home district military bases, sewer projects, economic development projects. A key trait is that they are projects that haven't been sought by the administration in power.

The money for the 15,000-member White Mountain Apache Tribe was one of four tribal water rights claims totaling almost $570 million that was added to the $5 billion-plus bill. Black farmers will get about $1.2 billion to settle claims that the Agriculture Department's local offices discriminated against them in awarding loans and other aid. Another $3.4 billion goes to American Indians who say the Interior Department swindled them out of oil, gas and other royalties.

The House still has to act on the total package, and likely will after Congress reconvenes Nov. 29 for the continuation of a postelection, lame duck session.

Sens. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., also got in on the bargain, adding measures benefiting their states to the black farmers-tribal royalty settlements. The two senators obtained almost $370 million for projects in their states to implement water settlements.

Baucus and Bingaman make no bones about their support for earmarks, but Kyl is a recent convert to the anti-earmark crusade of home state GOP colleague Sen. John McCain, who's railed against them for years. The Interior Department sought only $46 million for Indian land and water claims in Obama's proposed budget for this year and no money for Kyle's project, or those wanted by Baucus and Bingaman.

...Kyl's office declined a request for an interview with the senator.

Passage of the earmark ban next week is very iffy and bloodthirsty teabag-blogs are howling for McConnell's scalp.

This is truly appalling.

Mitch McConnell, the leader of the Senate Republicans, supported an earmarks ban and voted to ban earmarks. But he knew there weren’t enough votes for it. Now that it looks like there are enough votes, McConnell is lobbying furiously behind the scenes to kill the earmarks ban.

In 2000 Kyl had no primary opponent and no general election opponent either. Last time he faced the voters, in 2006, he won with a respectable 53% of the vote after a lackluster campaign against Democrat Jim Pederson. Kyl spent $16,103,008 to Pederson's $14,709,241. There have been noses on the fringe right about a teabagger type primary challenge against Kyl but it's hard to imagine anyone being able to pull that off, especially if they weren't even able to take out a clown like McCain.