When the Democrats regained control of the Senate on a wave of “anti-corruption” one of the first things they did was pass something now known as “rule 44”. In a nutshell what rule 44 says is that any earmarks/congressionally directed spending must be reported before a vote can proceed.

Last night John Cornyn asked if the charts/lists to comply with rule 44 had been submitted to the chair of the Senate. The answer was no. This will now become another talking point for the Republicans and one that can hurt the Democrats. You will hear how the Democrats violated their own rules to push through health care reform expansion, and that will bring back memories of the Frist years.

It would be nice if the Democrats would follow the very rules they implemented, or even if the Senate as a whole followed their rules. This isn’t an issue of left or right, but rather right or wrong. If the Democrats are content on breaking the rule they fought for now, then what happens when the Republicans control the Senate again? Simple – they will break the very same rule and the Democrats will again complain about it. This is the cycle of the Senate that shows just how broken it is.