There has been a lot of buzz in recent weeks about the idea of President Bush issuing an executive order canceling all earmarks not found in bill text (roughly 90 percent of them). Unfortunately, the New York Times has a story today that suggests he'll do nothing of the sort.

If the President misses this opportunity, it would be a heck of a shame. Not only could he stop the disgusting earmark process in its tracks, he could resurrect his credentials as a fiscal conservative and thus preserve part of his legacy. Rightly or wrongly, Presidents in their last year of office are inordinately concerned with their place in the history books. If Bush fails to pull through on an executive order, his legacy on spending will rightly be told as a horror show for fiscal conservatives: expanded entitlement programs, weakness and vacillation on earmarks, and an unwillingness to veto even the most egregious of spending bills

I'm quite certain that phones at the White House have been ringing off the hook with calls from appropriators and other pork-loving Congressmen urging him to protect the status quo. I'm also quite certain that I'll be putting in some calls of my own, on behalf of the taxpayers who pay their salaries and are SICK of these games. Care to join me?

Tell the President to issue an executive order getting rid of all earmarks not in legislative text.

Call the White House at 202-456-1414 or email them at comments@whitehouse.gov.