Democrats plan to remove earmarks from spending bills

The Republicans dumped the job of straightening out the government's remaining spending bills for 2006 on the Democrats, who have responded by declaring that they will remove all of the earmarks from them:

"'There will be no congressional earmarks,' Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., and Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., said Monday in a statement announcing their plans, which were quickly endorsed by incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev."

Looks like the Democrats are, for the moment, going to be more fiscally responsible than the Republicans. Not hard, given how the Republicans have spent money while they've been in power, but this is great news.