President-elect Barack Obama is taking a stand against pork-barrel politics.

Wisconsin's congressional delegation -- Democrats and Republicans -- should stand with him.

Obama pledged Tuesday to ban earmarks from the giant economic stimulus package he plans to unveil soon.

The package of federal spending and tax cuts designed to help the faltering economy could cost an estimated $775 billion. And that's on top of an existing federal budget deficit that's on pace to hit $1 trillion "for years to come," Obama said.

The stimulus bill will be ripe for abuse, which is why it's so important to discipline members of Congress now against wasteful pet projects.

Members of Congress routinely slip unrelated yet expensive earmarks into major bills. Earmarks bypass the normal review process for spending projects. They hinge not on merit but instead on a lawmaker's seniority.

Obama does not have a strong record on earmarks. As a U.S. senator in 2007, he joined with others to obtain about $100 million in earmarks for his home state of Illinois.

But Obama's election-year conversion in 2008 should be encouraged to continue. Obama sided with GOP presidential candidate John McCain and a small group of Republican senators last year in their bid to ban earmarks.

Now is no time for wild spending on pet projects. Now is the time for responsible and transparent government that tries to minimize the terrible effects of the recession with targeted, smart policy.

That means Obama needs to win his fight for an earmarks ban.

He'll undoubtedly have support from two Wisconsin leaders -- U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, a Democrat, and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, a Republican. They have sworn off pork projects for years. Feingold also plans to announce an earmarks reform proposal with McCain and other senators Wednesday.

But U.S. Rep. David Obey, who serves as the powerful chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, is a harder sell. Obey released a statement Tuesday saying he'll try to cut most earmarks in this year's budget in half and require members to publish explanations of their requests.

But why not just ban all earmarks? That's the real way to avoid waste in the face of a terrible economy.

Obey and the rest of Wisconsin's delegation should adopt the same pork-free diet that Feingold, Ryan and now Obama have committed to.