Supposedly this is becoming kind of a "big deal" on the right:
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/conservatives-mitch-mcconnell-kentucky-kickback-spending-deal-98428.html?hp=r3Politico:
Conservative groups ripped into Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, accusing him of earmarking $2 billion for a famously troubled lock-and-dam project that would benefit his home state as part of the bill to reopen the government and avert a debt default.
“It’s the Kentucky Kickback,” the Senate Conservatives Fund, which is considering backing McConnell’s primary opponent, wrote in a blog post. “In exchange for funding Obamacare and raising the debt limit, Mitch McConnell has secured a $2 billion earmark. This is an insult to all the Kentucky families who don’t want to pay for Obamacare and don’t want to shoulder any more debt.”
McConnell’s office said he had no role in securing the language, which was authored by Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.). Versions of the water project measure passed both the House and Senate earlier this year.
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I think this could add some temporary fuel to the fire against McConnell but I think if push comes to shove in the primary the Paul organization will bail him out.
