The SenateĀ defeated an amendment for a two-year moratorium on earmarks in the food safety bill sponsored by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., by a margin of 39-56. Seven Republicans voted against the ban, and seven Democrats ā including Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla. ā voted for the ban.
The earmarks ban is a cause celebre for the tea party faction of the party, and the only Republican senator who voted ānoā on the ban facing a primary challenge in 2012 would be Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind. Indiana tea party members were quoted in The New York Times andĀ Politico last weekend saying a challenge to Lugar in 2012 is likely, especially after his advocacy for the START treaty with Russia on nuclear arms.
Sens. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Texas ā who both may well face a 2012 tea party-led primary challenge ā voted for the ban afterĀ voting against one in March. Democratic Sens. Claire McCaskill, Mo., and Bill Nelson, Fla. ā two senators in Republican-leaning states up for reelection in 2012 ā voted for the ban.
Even if the amendment did pass, it might not have become law anyway, as the food safety bill has to go to the House-Senate conference to work out differences between the two versions of the bill.
Luke Johnson reports on Florida for The American Independent.
