A bipartisan handful of Senators (10 to be exact) with plans to introduce the Pork Barrel Reduction Act at 10:30 a.m. today may mean that the Earmark Favor Factory will be shutting down its operations for good.

The plant had swelled in size and increased output during recent years, but citizen outrage at the cost and means of producing earmark ("pork") products that often failed to serve the high priority needs of the nation has lately placed pressure on factory operators to cease or slow earmark production.

Senators McCain, Feingold, Bayh, Kyl, Ensign, Graham, Sununu, DeMint, and Cornyn will join Senator Tom Coburn in offering a proposal that would shine a light on "shady" (as one citizen put it) factory operations. Industry analysts view this as the first step toward halting harmful earmark production practices.

Thankfully, the iPod factory faces no such threat.

Senator McCain has this to say about the bill before the Senate Rules Committee:

Our bill, entitled the Pork-Barrel Reduction Act, would establish a new procedure under Rule XVI, modeled in part after the Byrd Rule, which would allow a 60-vote point of order to be raised against specific provisions that contain unauthorized appropriations, including earmarks, as well as unauthorized policy changes in appropriations bills and conference reports. Of importance is that successful points of order would not kill a conference report, but the targeted provisions would be deemed removed from the conference report, and the measure would be sent back for concurrence by the House.

To promote transparency, our bill requires that any earmarks included in a bill be disclosed fully in the bill’s accompanying report, along with the name of the Member who requested the earmark and its essential governmental purpose. Additionally, our bill would require recipients of federal dollars to disclose any amounts that the recipient expends on registered lobbyists.