Will Wonders Never Cease?
On Wednesday, the Charleston (WV) Daily Mail editorialized that West Virginia’s Sen. Robert Byrd (D) “joined the new House Appropriations chairman, David Obey, D-Wis., in announcing a brand new day when it comes to spending federal taxpayer money.” The paper noted:
“’There will be no congressional earmarks,’ Obey and Byrd said in a joint statement. That ends the practice of sneaking appropriations for local projects into federal budget bills, a practice if not invented by Byrd, at least perfected by him in his first eight terms in the Senate.”
The paper ends the editorial by saying, “It will be interesting to see what process replaces the earmark.” The paper has every right to be leery. We growled on July 19 of this year when Citizens Against Government Waste awarded Sen. Byrd their Porker of the Month for his legacy as the King of Pork. What's next? The Arlington County Board announcing that it will hold spending increases to the rate of inflation?
HT to Betsy's Page.