PORKBUSTERS UPDATE: The Bonner appointment blowback makes the Washington Post:

Anti-earmark crusader Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) lost his bid for a seat on the House Appropriations Committee Thursday, and the conservative blogosphere is not happy about it.

This Red State post was typical of the reaction. Under the heading, “House Republicans Aren’t Serious About Earmark Reform,” blogger Bluey wrote, “Just when it appeared House Republicans had turned the corner on earmark reform, party leaders did the unthinkable.”

The seat instead went to Alabama Rep. Jo Bonner (R), a former Appropriations staffer who beat a field that included Flake, National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Cole (Okla.) and a host of other aspirants that included one genuinely vulnerable GOP member, Rep. Dave Reichert (Wash.). . . .

Republican leaders know that Flake is a cause célèbre in the blogosphere. They knew passing him over would prompt a backlash. But while they want to keep hammering away on the earmarks issue, they simply were not going to reward Flake for what they perceive to be insufficient loyalty to the team.

House Republicans’ unwillingness to commit to a party-wide moratorium on earmarks demonstrated that their crusade does have its limits, and yesterday’s move reaffirmed that fact.

Indeed it did.

UPDATE: The Hill: Booted from the PorkBusters list:

Angered by the decision of Republican leaders to not give earmark foe Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) a coveted seat on the Appropriations Committee, a coalition of fiscal conservative groups is kicking the GOP leadership’s representative off its mailing list.

“At the request of several key groups in the porkbusting coalition, I have decided to eject the House GOP leadership’s representative, Bill Greene, from the Coalition mailing list,” said blogger Rob Neppell. The Porkbusters coalition is made up of conservative groups, such as the Club for Growth, the Heritage Foundation and the National Taxpayer’s Union, and bloggers.

The Porkbusters coalition also includes the Sunlight Foundation, and a bunch of lefties associated therewith.