Earmark's marked.

The Senate voted to curb earmarks, special legislation slipped into spending bills, by mandating that the mark be posted to the internet 48 hours before the bill goes to vote, and 48 hours after the mark is introduces. As part of the post the Senator must include the names of all sponsors and they cannot use earmarks to induce other Senators to vote their way on a bill (I have no idea how they plan to monitor/enforce that last part - I'm sure the all powerful Senate Ethics Committee will have something to do with it, meaning you will never, ever read about a violation of this rule leading to any kind of punishment).

Definitely a "around the edges" move on earmarks. But, also definitely better than before. I particularly like the internet angle. First, sometimes the best reform is sunshine. While not a direct slam to earmarks, making them less secret should slow them down. 96 hours is a long time in this day and age. Lots of time for news/blogs to discover, discuss, and put pressure on those earmarks and who/why they were placed into a spending bill. Second, I believe that the internet is a great tool for a democracy and that the government should by using this tool more aggressively. The people's protection against the government (physical, economic, legal, etc) is oversight. The internet is a fantastic tool for the people to oversee the legislators they entrust with the power to run the nation.

So my hope is that this turns out to be a bit of a Trojan Horse.