A day after his victory in the New Hampshire primary, Sen. John McCain spoke with bloggers about a variety of issues, including the option of a presidential executive order canceling earmarks in the omnibus spending bill. Erick Erickson of RedState posed the question to the Arizona senator, who has long been a critic of pork-barrel spending. Here is the exchange, courtesy of Jim Geraghty of National Review:
Erick Erickson: Senator Coburn wants investigation into Don Young’s appropriation got back into bill after it had been stripped out. Would you support an executive order to zero out these “airdropped earmarks”?
McCain: Absolutely, absolutely. I appreciate any time Coburn goes after these earmarks. He has torn the crown of ‘Miss Congeniality in the Senate’ from my grasp. I’m proud of the effectiveness of the way he has worked. We have to bring this to a halt. People are sick and tired.
Republican rival Fred Thompson is holding a conference call on Thursday. We’ll do our best to ask him where he comes down on the issue of an executive order. Thompson has outlined his views on earmarks as part of his plan to reduce federal spending.
Cross-posted on Omnibusting.
