...But DeMint [Jim DeMint, South Carolina, shown at right] rose to make clear that he and his fellow freshman Republican, Sen. Tom Coburn, would use the many parliamentary devices at their disposal to block an omnibus bill. Their alternative was what is called a continuing resolution, extending spending at its present level into next February. That meant the lame-duck session would be porkless.Sen. Ted Stevens, the old appropriator renowned for delivering pork home to Alaska, erupted with an exhibition of his famous hair-trigger temper. Sen. Thad Cochran, a courtly Southern gentleman and Stevens's successor as Appropriations Committee chairman, made the case in calmer language. Sen. John McCain, happy to have two Senate rookies pick up the anti-pork mantle he has carried for many years, was making snide comments in a stage whisper. But DeMint was not about to be moved by either threats or persuasion...
Read the rest of Bob Novak's story of this significant (but, with the Democrats coming to power, perhaps temporary) victory over "porky politics."
