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My DC lawyer/lobbyist friend continues to be impressed with John Boehner, the GOP minority leader in the House, whose unpleasant duty it is to clean up after his messy predecessor Tom DeLay. Because he has always been "Mr. Clean" when it comes to earmarks, he has real moral authority when he speaks on the subject, as he does this morning in an op-ed, declaring:

After repeatedly promising the ?most honest? and ?most open? Congress in history, Democratic leaders have moved to make the earmark process entirely secret.

...a new directive by the Democratic chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., will keep spending bills ?earmark free? initially but allow Democrats to air-drop all earmarks into conference reports without any scrutiny. As The Associated Press reported, ?Rather than including specific pet projects, grants and contracts in legislation as it is being written,? the order will ?keep the bills free of such earmarks until it is too late for critics to effectively challenge them.?

Part of what makes me respect Boehner is that he has the capacity to lead. The contrast with Tom DeLay is most apparent on the subject of earmarks. Boehner is one of the very few in Congress never to sponsor one.

The Democrats promised only a few things when they were auditioning for the congressional majority: to get out of Iraq, to reform Congress, including earmarks, and to be the opposite of George W. Bush. So far, they are one for three. Let's check in on how they are following through on their pledge to reform earmarks.

The consensus at the start of the year was that earmarks would get more disclosure, requiring each one to be justified on its merits. The expectation was that an earmark's sponsor would be identified and would defend the special spending request in an up-or-down vote on the House floor. This would discourage "bridges to nowhere" and reduce the unchecked power of appropriators to spend like drunken Paris Hiltons.

Now in control, the Democrats have decided that even the old murky levels of disclosure is too much of a threat. Threat to earmarks, that is. You see, if they were revealed and subject to a vote, too many might be voted down. Democrats against Democracy! It's the new reality show featuring stealth spending!

A storm is building against earmarks again. Can these first clouds grow to form a dangerous and powerful thunderstorm? Could it even develop into a threat to Democratic control of the House? The Republican leader is in the House knows he needs to earn back the voter's trust, and the climb will be steep, but here he is taking a big step forward.

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