^{House Republicans today delivered a stunning blow in the decades-old fight to control government spending by voting for a total ban on Republican-originated earmarks in all Congressional spending for the remainder of the 111th Congress.}

^{“Today is a historic milestone in moving towards eliminating the pork-barrel spending that is destroying our children’s economic future,” says House Republican Conference Secretary John Carter. “It is not without cost to House Republicans, as we are voluntarily giving up our ability to impact federal spending priorities, while Democrats will continue designating funds for projects in their districts. But it is worth it to give the American people a clear-cut choice in November to shut down the insane levels of federal deficit spending of this Congress and Administration. The House has a constitutional role in determining federal spending priorities, but it has been so abused that it must be brought to an absolute halt until this madness is stopped and a better process can be found."}