Maud You Gonna Lose Your Pork for the Town Green?

From article today titled Dems to Wipe Out Pet Projects in Bills:

(AP) Democrats tidying up a cluster of unfinished spending bills dumped on them by departing Republican leaders in Congress will start by removing billions of dollars in lawmakers' pet projects next month. The move, orchestrated by the incoming chairmen of the House and Senate Appropriations committees, could prove politically savvy even as it proves unpopular with other members of Congress, who as a group will lose thousands of so-called earmarks. "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. Earmarks are congressionally mandated projects such as grants for local governments, home-state universities and hospitals, roads, bridges and flood control construction, and economic development efforts not included in the president's spending proposals. Often called "pork" by critics, their sponsors defend inserting the projects into spending bills by claiming that, as elected representatives, they know more about the needs of people in their states and government programs than the president or bureaucrats in the executive branch. Such projects have exploded in number under GOP control of Congress over the last 12 years and at the same time have spawned a boom on Washington's K Street lobbying corridor, where consultants earn big fees by helping outsiders navigate the system.

How does this affect the Town Green? A $200,000 loss is how it is affected. Maud's benefactor for this pork, Tom Davis, is now powerless. It will be interesting to see what happens...