Senate spending bill contains thousands of earmarks

Republicans either stand up to this travesty or face squandering ever bit of political capital given them in the November elections.

Senate Democrats released a massive spending bill Tuesday that contains money for thousands of lawmakers' pet projects, setting up a fierce debate over so-called earmarks in the waning days of the lame-duck congressional session.

Leaders of the Appropriations Committee combined a dozen spending bills into a single measure with more than $1.2 trillion in appropriations to fund the federal government for a full year. The committee said the bill is $29 billion below the budget proposed by President Obama.

The House took a different approach this month in passing an alternative spending bill, known as a "continuing resolution," that would keep funding level through September and contains no congressional earmarks.