In a March 4 article, The Washington Times uncritically reported Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) criticism that in supporting the omnibus appropriations bill, "[i]t's pretty clear that the [Obama] administration is recommending that we continue the spending binge that has begun here." The article did not mention that according to a study by independent budget watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense, McConnell himself added 36 earmarks to the bill totaling about $51.2 million.

By contrast, in reporting that McConnell said that the omnibus bill is part of an ongoing “spending binge,” The New York Times noted that McConnell “was among the most successful lawmakers in inserting his favored projects into the spending bill.” From The New York Times' March 3 article:

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, was among the most successful lawmakers in inserting his favored projects into the spending bill now on the floor, according to the analysis by Taxpayers for Common Sense. Mr. McConnell added 36 items worth $51.2 million.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Mr. McConnell criticized the Obama administration as continuing a “spending binge,” but he did not specifically criticize earmarks.

The Washington Times article also reported that “Democrats faced [an] intraparty clash over congressional earmarks” and that the “higher spending and plethora of earmarks ... spurred Republican moves to whittle down the [omnibus] bill,” without noting that nine Republican senators voted against Sen. John McCain's amendment to strip the omnibus bill of all earmarks. The article cited only House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) as members of Congress who defend earmarks as “a congressional prerogative.”

From the March 4 Washington Times article by reporters S.A. Miller and David R. Sands:

President Obama's drive to change Washington's free-spending ways is running into a buzz saw of opposition from his party, as another top congressional Democrat on Tuesday bucked the president's plan to curb pork projects.

Mr. Obama also drew criticism from his party for his call to raise taxes on high earners, especially his plan to limit some taxpayers' itemized deductions for charitable donations.

House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer became the second leading congressional Democrat in a week to push back against Mr. Obama's drive to curb member-directed earmarks on spending bills.

Saying he was open to the president's “suggestions” about how to reform the spending process, the Maryland Democrat told reporters, “I don't think the White House has the ability to tell us what to do. I hope you all got that down.”

His remark echoed a warning from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, that the earmarks process is a congressional prerogative.

[...]

Mr. Hoyer and Mr. Reid said that banning earmarks would undermine Congress' constitutional power to control the government's purse strings and would cede to the executive branch critical decisions on where federal taxpayer dollars are spent.

The Democrats faced the intraparty clash over congressional earmarks on a day when the Senate turned back a series of Republican moves to hold the line of spending in a $410 billion omnibus appropriations bill, instead backing an 8 percent spending increase for fiscal 2009.

Watchdog groups and Republicans have called on Mr. Obama to veto the omnibus as a demonstration of fiscal restraint and resolve against pork spending. But White House officials said he will sign the legislation, which the administration views as the final spending bill under President Bush.

The omnibus, which sets funding levels for more than a dozen Cabinet departments for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, would replace a stopgap spending measure that expires Friday.

The president must sign the omnibus or another temporary spending bill by Friday to avert a government shutdown.

“It's pretty clear that the administration is recommending that we continue the spending binge that has begun here,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican. “We have already in the first year of the new Congress spent more money than the previous seven years combined, spent more money than we spent on Iraq, Afghanistan and the response to Katrina.”

During the presidential election campaign, Mr. Obama proposed cutting pork spending to 1994 levels, when Congress slipped 1,318 earmarks costing $7.8 billion into the annual appropriations bills, according to an analysis by Citizens Against Government Waste.

Last year's spending bills under the Bush administration and a Democrat-led Congress included 11,610 earmarks costing $17.2 billion. The omnibus spending bill contains more than 9,000 member-directed spending items worth $12.8 billion. It increases spending 8 percent over 2008 levels, more than twice the rate of inflation.

The higher spending and plethora of earmarks including such pet projects as $1.9 million for water taxi service at Pleasure Beach, Conn., and more than $950,000 for a “sustainable Las Vegas” program spurred Republican moves to whittle down the bill.

The Senate killed a series of cost-cutting amendments by Republicans, including one by Sen. John McCain of Arizona that would have frozen spending in the current fiscal year at 2008 levels.

“Americans are having to tighten their belts,” Mr. McCain said during debate on the amendment. “No time is more important than now to show the American people that we are ready to tighten our belts.”