There's been a lot of discussion about the effort of House Republicans to promote a one-year earmark moratorium, and of the president to force Congress to limit them. How seriously should we take this? Well, the lobbyists are scared:
After a year of grappling with new transparency standards and efforts by the House Democratic majority to chop earmarks in half, lobbyists returning to work are facing a fresh set of challenges, including Members who purposely are shifting their appropriation deadlines forward to decrease the number of requests...
One appropriations lobbyist described the situation as "pretty close" to a crisis for the industry. "There's so much uncertainty across the board. Last year was tough, and the threat still continues..."
Another appropriations lobbyist, speaking on background, said leaner times could prove healthy for the business long term. "We were due for a shakeout," this lobbyist said. "Lobbying has been growing tremendously in the past several years, with anyone thinking they could leave the Hill to put out a shingle. It'll shake out and we'll see who survives."
Every once in a while you need to thin the herd, apparently.
Also worth reading is this post from Andrew Roth -- a list of all the Members who have gone cold-turkey on earmarks.
