"I'm not wild about turning over more spending authority to the executive branch, but I have come to share the view of most Americans that our nation is at a crossroads," McConnell said on the Senate floor. The "only way we will be able to turn the corner and save our future is if elected leaders like me make the kinds of difficult decisions voters are clearly asking us to make."  But McConnell also expressed his own personal conflict on the issue.  "Make no mistake, I know the good that has come from the projects I have helped support throughout my state. I don't apologize for them," McConnell said. "But there is simply no doubt that the abuse of this practice has caused Americans to view it as a symbol of the wasted and the out-of-control spending that every Republican in Washington is determined to fight."  President Barack Obama responded with a statement welcoming McConnell's "decision to join me and members of both parties who support cracking down on wasteful earmark spending, which we can't afford during these tough economic times."  But the president added, "We can't stop with earmarks as they represent only part of the problem."  As Republicans voted in their caucus, Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri said she wants the full Senate to vote on a binding moratorium that would include Democrats, too.  "The arguments against this, every single one of them, I just don't think pass the smell test," she said about senators who oppose a ban.  But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, later indicated disagreement with McCaskill. Reid defended earmarks Tuesday, telling Capitol Hill reporters he has "an obligation to the people of Nevada ... not to some bureaucrat with green eyeshades."  "I think (an earmark ban is) a tremendous step backward," Reid said. "It just gives more power to the executive. ... I am not in favor of delegating my constitutional responsibility to the White House."
The GOP caucus in the Senate agreed Tuesday night to ban earmarks, a policy House Republicans already have in place and are expected to keep in the new Congress.The idea of prohibiting members from