A Capitol Hill source just provided us with this remarkable letter, which House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey of Wisconsin today sent to some, if not all, of his Congressional colleagues.

In the letter, Obey acts like a schoolboy who's trying to find out if the girl sitting next to him has a crush on him and his ability to deliver pork-barrel earmarks.  And they say romance is dead:

Dear Colleague:

In light of the continuing discussion on earmarks in the Republican Conference, the Appropriations Committee needs to determine how it would proceed.

Please sign your name below and check one of the two boxes below describing where you come out on this question:

Member's name (please print) : __________________

Member's signature: ____________________________

_____ I believe the House should suspend earmarks for the year.  Consistent with this position, I will therefore be submitting no earmark requests for fiscal year 2009.

_____ I think the House should continue to provide responsible earmarks at a reasonable level, and consistent with that position, I will be submitting appropriate requests for fiscal year 2009.

Obey concludes with an ominous warning:

"... I will assume that any Member not returning this form (by March 19) wishes to see Congressional earmarks discontinued and will therefore be submitting no requests for fiscal year 2009.

Sincerely,

David R. Obey"

Well, take that, would-be beneficiaries of Chairman Obey's taxpayer-funded gifts!

Of course, many Members of Congress will be able to officially "check yes or no" on pork today when the House Budget Committee considers an expected GOP amendment to enact a one-year moratorium on all earmarks, and all Senators will likely have that opportunity when Sen. Jim DeMint offers a similar amendment next week.

It's very clear that Members of Congress are really starting to feel the heat on pork-barrel earmarks.  It'll be very interesting to see how they handle this Obey letter and the upcoming votes in Congress.  In the meantime, if they need some inspiration while deciding how to fill out Obey's "check yes or no" pork love letter, there's always some musical accompaniment here.

UPDATE 1:32 p.m. -- From an e-mail I just received from the Hill: "House Republican leaders are advising our members to respond by adding a third box that says "I support an immediate earmark moratorium and appointment of a commission to reform the broken spending process in Washington.  Let's vote on it."