Senators Fight to Keep Sending Pork Home

House members may be pushing earmark reform, but many of their Senate colleagues refuse to let go without a fight—in fact, Politico notes, it may be the one issue on which senators from both parties can agree on. Lawmakers from both sides argue that the money would be spent anyway, so there's no need to take aim at their pet projects.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid—who sent $222 million in projects back to Nevada last year—has rejected calls for a yearlong moratorium on earmarks. Senate Republicans meet on the issue this week, but few expect them to take a stand, especially not with lawmakers like Sen. Thad Cochran, who sent nearly $500 million in projects to Mississippi last year, among them. "I don’t have any guilt trips,” Cochran says. (More earmarks stories.)