Independent voices from the TWT Communities
Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett lost the battle for his political life Tuesday, failing in his bid to win an 11th term in a Maryland district that has long shared his values but has changed drastically as a result of gerrymandering.
Shortly after Rep. Dan Benishek arrived in Washington, staffers raised a banner that proclaimed to visitors in his Capitol Hill suite: "If you are here to ask for more money, you're in the wrong office!"
When Congress announced a ban on budget earmarks earlier this year, many believed that the wasteful spending practice had been killed once and for all.
Mr. Schilling, part of the wave of GOP conservatives who took control of the House in the midterm elections, wrote in a local website last year, "We need earmark reform that improves transparency, roots out corruption and eliminates wasteful spending.
