Ear Mark Hypocrisy: Cornyn and Thune have no Answers

Between the two, Sen. John Cornyn and John Thune, 82 earmarks were added with the intent to get them passed by the Democrats, while they are able to vote against the budget for pure political reasons.

They were even asked to withdraw the earmarks, to prevent them from being passed with the budget, but  they kept insisting they would reject earmarks requested by themselves and would vote against...a bill they know will pass eventually with their earmarks. I feel I could write a whole new Dr. Suess book after this.

It's also a moment where the press acted like the press, asking the tough follow-up questions. Rachel Maddow nails this one:

Think Progress: Today, the Washington Post reports that two of the most prolific earmarkers in Congress — “unabashed spending barons” Republican Sens. Roger Wicker and Thad Cochran of Mississippi — are also planning to vote against the omnibus, despite being responsible for 405 earmarks costing over $865 million.

Keep in mind, the list below shows how many earmarks were "requested" by Republicans, not just the ones that finally made in the bill, which makes them look like super hypocrites:

Charles Grassley requested 291 earmarks totaling over $770.5 million, getting 86 earmarks into the omnibus.

Sen. Lindsey Graham requested 116 earmarks costing $326.8 million

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison tried to insert 119 earmarks into, at a cost of $770.9 million. She has $140 million earmarked in the bill.

Sen. Saxby Chambliss requested 122 earmarks totaling $492 million. He achieved $56 million in earmarks.

Sen. Richard Burr tried for 82 earmarks, totaling $287.1 million, and received most of them.

Sen. John Ensign requested 32 earmarks this year, totaling $115.8 million, and got nearly all of them — almost $100 million — into the omnibus.