Conservatives terrified that earmarks are about to make a comeback

Behind closed doors, the party of fiscal responsibility is flirting with the idea of ending the earmark ban.

A contingent of the GOP had floated the idea of restoring congressional earmarks just a week after Election Day. Although House Speaker Ryan shelved the idea, Rep. Bill Flores of Texas warns that conservatives won't necessarily be so lucky next time.

"I have this sick feeling that there's more than half of the conference that would vote for this if it came back," Flores says. The former chairman of the Republican Study Committee tells the Washington Examiner that if the party vote is by secret ballot "it will pass."

A reversal of the ban would mean a permanent rebranding. After promising to drain the swamp, Republicans would own the subsequent era of abusive and ridiculous spending projects. Each new Tea Pot Museum, every Bridge to Nowhere, and all subsequent Turtle Tunnels would come stamped "courtesy of GOP."

That hypocrisy doesn't register with Reps. John Culberson of Texas, Mike Rogers of Alabama, Tom Rooney of Florida and Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania.The quartet behind the failed November push for restorations of earmarks argues that they would allow Congress to regain its constitutional power of the purse.