Political Wire reports on Senator Reid’s defense of earmarks in the face of an expected earmark ban call by President Obama in the State of the Union speech. What president wouldn’t be for an earmark ban, which shifts power from the legislative to the executive branch?
MORE: From the President’s Prepared Remarks for the SOTU speech:

In the coming year, we will also work to rebuild people’s faith in the institution of government. Because you deserve to know exactly how and where your tax dollars are being spent, you will be able to go to a website and get that information for the very first time in history. Because you deserve to know when your elected officials are meeting with lobbyists, I ask Congress to do what the White House has already done: put that information online. And because the American people deserve to know that special interests aren’t larding up legislation with pet projects, both parties in Congress should know this: if a bill comes to my desk with earmarks inside, I will veto it.

As to the lobbyist point, we know from experience that such a rule will be great for business at the closest Caribou Coffee.