New Hampshire Union Leader: Hodes takes on earmarks

HODES VS. EARMARKS. Democratic Rep. Paul Hodes today will step up his new fight against congressional earmarks.

Mark Bergman, a spokesman for the U.S. Senate candidate, said that this afternoon, the House Appropriations Committee will announce a new rule banning earmarks specifically directed at private companies in future budgets.

Bergman said Hodes supports the ban but believes it does not go far enough and should be extended to include all earmarks, including the billions of dollars annually earmarked for public entities.

Bergman said Hodes intends to attend a meeting of the House Democratic Caucus this afternoon, after the appropriation committee meeting to make that known and to call for an up-or-down vote in the House on all earmarks before the Easter holiday.

Bergman said Hode will try to have the vote taken on a personal privilege resolution, which, he said, requires a vote within 48 hours of introduction.

Hodes will also hold a news conference this afternoon on Capitol Hill to detail his plan, Bergman said.

Hodes swore off congressional earmarks in January, announcing he would no longer seek them for New Hampshire.

Just like the struggling middle class New Hampshire families who have been forced to cut back on family expenses, the federal government needs to take a hard look at growing deficits and do a lot more to cut wasteful spending," Hodes said at the time.

Republican Party spokesman Ryan Williams accused Hodes of trying to score political points, saying that he was "an unabashed supporter of earmarks and reckless Washington spending until his Senate poll numbers started to crater.

"New Hampshire voters are smart enough to realize that his politically motivated earmark grandstanding is nothing but a desperate attempt to distract from his abysmal fiscal record, " Williams said.