Senator Mike Johanns is cutting pork from his diet -- political pork, that is. He won't pursue earmarks for Nebraska because he "simply do[es] not have confidence that the earmarking system is open, transparent and based on merit". Well, no, of course it isn't. That's why we call it pork and not "legitimate government expenditures". Congressional earmarks are a dirty business. Which isn't to say all earmarks are bad. The ugly processes used to pass earmarks are the the problem; the bizarre expenditures are a side effect.
On the plus side, this means Sen. Johanns is exercising some sound principles. The dark side of his decision is that most everybody else is still fighting to get the Feds to pay for projects that really ought to be funded by local, state, or private entities (or not at all).
Is this a good move by Johanns? Just a bit of political grandstanding? Or perhaps a grand waffle, since just a month ago he said he would support certain projects?
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Considering that earmarks are less than 1% of the budget and that Federal agencies would spend those dollars through formula or grant applications anyway, yup, I’m pretty sure it’s just grandstanding.
Of course he’s just grandstanding—he’s a Republican. Meanwhile, Ben Nelson getting national coverage because of his ‘work’ on the stimulus bill is just bipartisan heroism.
<i>Ben Nelson getting national coverage because of his
If Johanns is so worried about the problems with earmarks why doesn’t he do something about them? How about an in depth blog about the process, exposing the things that cause his lack of confidence?
You’ll notice that whenever LJS illustrates a story about Johanns, the file photo shows him wagging that index finger at us as though we were stepping outside our station.
Please, sir, can I have some more?
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