This giant excuse for a Democrat spending bill is shaping up to be conglomerate of earmarks. The problem is that they aren't being called "earmarks." Remember when Obama ran on a platform of transparency and earmark reform? Well he is dedicated to living up to that promise. So here's what happens ... the earmarks are still there, they are just called something different - "ready to go" or "shovel-ready" projects. All in the name of economic stimulus.

Changing the name of earmarks to "ready to go" projects. More Change We Can Believe In.

The AP reports that that Obama's ban on earmarks doesn't mean that interest groups, lobbyists and lawmakers won't figure out a way to get their constituents their ration of pork. They will just figure out another way to do it. And by doing THAT, we have inadvertently made the process even more secretive.

Projects like a "disk-golf" course in Austin, Texas or a water park in Arkansas or dog parks in California ... as earmarks, these projects would have gotten money up front. But now what we are doing is giving money to these projects in the back end by just lumping them into one pile of "ready to go" projects. The money will be divided up based on arcane formulas outlined in the bill, and then the politicians, on the back end, will decide who gets what.

Lawmakers, lobbyists and local officials say that this stimulus plan actually makes it more difficult to pick out how exactly the hundreds of billions of dollars will be spent. Former mayor of Costa Mesa, California Peter Buffa says, "'No earmarks' isn't a game-ender ... It just means there's a different way of going about making sure the funding is there."

Did we really think that our politicians were going to give up the power of pork barrel projects so easily? Yeah, I didn't think so. Remember that they have a history of re-labeling this type of spending. First it was earmarks, then pork, then Congressional directed spending, then stimulus, now they are "ready to go" projects.