Earmarks Reid Dismisses Obama's Call

Reid Dismisses Obama's Call For Ban On Earmarks

Barack Obama's top ally in the Senate Tuesday brusquely rejected the president's call for a ban on the practice of stuffing home state projects known as earmarks into spending bills.

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the president "has enough power already" and that Obama's reported embrace Tuesday night of an earmark ban promoted by Republicans is just a "lot of pretty talk."

Reid made his remarks at a news conference in which he otherwise praised Obama in advance of Tuesday's State of the Union address.

Reid is a skilled practitioner of earmarking, in which lawmakers direct projects like new roads, grants to local police departments and community development grants to their states and congressional districts.

Obama has frequently said he opposes earmarks but he has repeatedly accepted them in larger spending bills. The earmark ban has been driven chiefly by House Speaker John Boehner, who vows not to send Obama any spending bills containing them.

Opponents of earmarks say they too often divert money from worthy projects into wasteful ones. An explosion of earmarking under GOP control of Congress in the late 1990s and early 2000s sparked a "pay to play" culture in which lobbyists and business executives seeking earmarks lubricate the system with campaign contributions.

The earmark ban is one of the few areas where Obama and tea party activists are in agreement, but Reid said the idea unfairly "takes power away from the legislative branch of government. And I think that's the wrong thing to do."

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Ben Roethlisberger suspension

Ben, Roethlisberger suspension: NFL commissioner reduces ban of Pittsburgh Steelers QB to four games

Terry Bradshaw's prayers weren't answered. The NFL has reduced Ben Roethlisberger's suspension.

Two days after Bradshaw ripped into Roethlisberger for his actions toward women, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell met with the current Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Friday and reduced his suspension from six games to four. He also praised the 28-year-old for the effort he has shown in trying to improve his behavior.

"You have told me and the Steelers that you committed to making better decisions," Goodell told Roethlisberger, according to a statement released by the league. "Your actions over the past several months have been consistent with that promise, and you must continue to honor that commitment."

The reduction, according to the league, is "contingent on (Roethlisberger) continuing to adhere to the program established by our advisers and avoiding any further violations of the Personal Conduct Policy." While suspended, he must stay away from the Steelers completely and have no contact with the coaches or front office.

Roethlisberger reportedly delivered a tearful apology to his teammates after their final exhibition game on Thursday night. He is eligible to return for the Steelers' Oct. 17 game against the Cleveland Browns.

Roethlisberger was suspended by the NFL for violating the league's personal conduct policy in early March when he was accused of sexually assaulting a college student in a Milledgeville, Ga., bar. He wasn't charged in the incident, but the mountain of evidence against him did not reflect well on him or the league, and obviously convinced Goodell that Roethlisberger did not behave appropriately.

Clearly Bradshaw, a Hall of Famer and former Steelers quarterback, is convinced of that. He's never been a fan of Roethlisberger and he hammered him again on Wednesday during a pointed speech at a luncheon in Shreveport, La.

"Going to bars, treating women like that. . . . Oh my God," Bradshaw said. "I pray they don't cut (his suspension) to four games. I hope they leave it at six."

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