Bill Lee: “Senator Coburn said this is the ``gateway drug'' for big government. That is such an appropriate analogy. It reminds me…”

“Senator Coburn said this is the ``gateway drug'' for big government. That is such an appropriate analogy. It reminds me of a news clip that I saw a couple of years before I ran for the U.S. Senate, when there was coverage of a very large spending bill that came up short--and those on the news commented at the time: Well, it is well understood in Washington that what is now going to have to happen is they are going to have to add probably tens of billions of dollars to this bill, which they will do, and they will end up getting it passed by adding these ``sweeteners'' as they call them--earmarks, essentially--in order to get people to vote for them for the same reason that Senator Flake just mentioned. The dangers of bringing back earmarks are numerous, and it is my strong view that we should not do that. We should avoid this like the plague. Thank you. I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Mississippi.”