The Sliming Continues
The 110th Congress hasn't even been seated yet and already the "liberal" mainstream media has begun the sliming of the Democratic congressional leadership. I'm sure the press just wants us to be aware that the liberals are just as corrupt, just as venal, and just as devious as the conservatives have been the past twelve years, even though the Democrats have been out of power that whole time.
The latest scurrilous entry comes in today's NY Times in an article by David D. Kirkpatrick titled "As Power Shifts in New Congress, Pork May Linger".
Representative Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader, and many Democratic candidates have railed for months against wasteful “special interest earmarks” inserted into bills “in the dark of night.”
The article then proceeds to attack Ms. Pelosi, Sen. Daniel Inouye, Sen. Patty Murray, Rep. Jack Murtha and other Democrats for all the pork barrel projects they pushed through for their own consituents and for those they enabled the Republicans to push through.
First of all, Mr. Kirkpatrick seems to be equating the pork with "special interest earmarks." To my way of thinking, the special interest part of the term refers to those give-aways to corporate lobbyists who have greased the palms of the earmarker in question. Nancy Pelosi has promised to do something about that, such as requiring that the name of the representative inserting the earmark be attached to it, making it part of the record. Certainly some transparency in that regard would be helpful, if only as a shaming device, particularly in the next election. It's only a start, however, and I hope the Democrats go even further, banning earmarks that have not gone through the vetting process of the appropriate committee and which are not introduced just hours before the floor vote.
Now, as to the pork issue: there has always been too much of that in the nation's diet, but there will certainly be less in the next Congress if only because the money just isn't there, thanks to the profligate profiteers of the last six years. Mr. Kirkpatrick at least saw fit to note the following:
Several Democratic appropriators, though, sought to tamp down expectations about how much they could spend. Senator Byron L. Dorgan, the North Dakota Democrat who is expected to become chairman of the energy and water subcommittee, said Democrats were limited by the deficit, the cost of the war in Iraq and their party’s pledges of fiscal restraint. “This is going to be a very rough time,” Mr. Dorgan said.
From your lips, Mr. Dorgan, to the ears of whatever holds this universe together.
Of course, we don't actually know what will happen because the new Congress hasn't convened yet. That's something Mr. Kirkpatrick fails to mention.
The latest scurrilous entry comes in today's NY Times in an article by David D. Kirkpatrick titled "As Power Shifts in New Congress, Pork May Linger".
Representative Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader, and many Democratic candidates have railed for months against wasteful “special interest earmarks” inserted into bills “in the dark of night.”
The article then proceeds to attack Ms. Pelosi, Sen. Daniel Inouye, Sen. Patty Murray, Rep. Jack Murtha and other Democrats for all the pork barrel projects they pushed through for their own consituents and for those they enabled the Republicans to push through.
First of all, Mr. Kirkpatrick seems to be equating the pork with "special interest earmarks." To my way of thinking, the special interest part of the term refers to those give-aways to corporate lobbyists who have greased the palms of the earmarker in question. Nancy Pelosi has promised to do something about that, such as requiring that the name of the representative inserting the earmark be attached to it, making it part of the record. Certainly some transparency in that regard would be helpful, if only as a shaming device, particularly in the next election. It's only a start, however, and I hope the Democrats go even further, banning earmarks that have not gone through the vetting process of the appropriate committee and which are not introduced just hours before the floor vote.
Now, as to the pork issue: there has always been too much of that in the nation's diet, but there will certainly be less in the next Congress if only because the money just isn't there, thanks to the profligate profiteers of the last six years. Mr. Kirkpatrick at least saw fit to note the following:
Several Democratic appropriators, though, sought to tamp down expectations about how much they could spend. Senator Byron L. Dorgan, the North Dakota Democrat who is expected to become chairman of the energy and water subcommittee, said Democrats were limited by the deficit, the cost of the war in Iraq and their party’s pledges of fiscal restraint. “This is going to be a very rough time,” Mr. Dorgan said.
From your lips, Mr. Dorgan, to the ears of whatever holds this universe together.
Of course, we don't actually know what will happen because the new Congress hasn't convened yet. That's something Mr. Kirkpatrick fails to mention.
posted by Diane at 8:04 AM
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