One of the other things Democrats promised in 2006 was greater disclosure and curbing of runaway earmarks -- a practice created by the Democrats, but turned into a streamlined machine by the Republicans. (Do you think this paragraph will get metaphor alert treatment from OpinionJournal.com?)

Well, Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.), has decided to add a state of the art cloaking device to the already murky bog that is the congressional earmarking process. (How about this paragraph?)

According to the Club for Growth:

The House Appropriations Committee has decided to insert earmarks into all of the FY08 spending bills during the conferencing committees, instead of during the initial House-only process.

This will prevent lawmakers like Jeff Flake from offering amendments to strip out wasteful pork projects...which is EXACTLY why David Obey, the Approps Chairman, is changing the rules. In defending his move, Obey said ($),

“It’s my job to protect the committee."

Apparently, Obey's job to protect the American taxpayer is a lower priority. In a recent press release, Flake said, "This is a huge step backwards on earmark reform. As bad as the earmark process is now, this would make it immensely worse."

The more things change, the more they remain the same.