Libertarian Librarian

No, not beer, not even polka. Roll out the PORK BARREL!




Though even these piggies are a whole lot nicer to look at then the horrendously horrible transportation bill passed last Friday. Ye Gods, not even Troy could eat this much fat! (And believe me, that's saying something.) $286.5 Billion over six years? $24 BILLION for special projects?

$24 BILLION! With a Republican President and a Republican majority in both houses. Ye gods how repulsive.

Remember the good old days when Republicans were actually conservatives? Sadly, I don't-- because I was a Democrat at the time! Aye carumba! Still, I can look back now on the Reagan years and wish I had known then what I know now. Reagan actually vetoed a transportation bill with a mere $1.6 Billion in special projects. Unfortunately for us, President Bush has yet to meet a spending increase he doesn't like-- despite all his rhetoric about controlling spending.

$24 BILLION!!!!

I also love the fact that the news agencies are touting how Congress got close to meeting Bush's target of $284 billion. Yeah, they only missed by $2.5 BILLION fercrisesakes! BILLION! How'd you like to have that kind of leeway in what you do? "Here Mr. General Contractor, we'd like you to build this for us, but don't worry if you go over budget by the ENTIRE GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT OF LATVIA!"

To quote both Charlie Brown and Yukon Cornelius, "Gooood Grief!"

I also found it odd that Alaska, the largest state in area, but the third smallest in population (behind only Wyoming and Vermont) got $941 million-- the fourth highest total of any state. I'm sure it had nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that the Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is Don Young of Alaska. Surely just a coincidence. The fact that $231 million is earmarked for a bridge in Anchorage to be named Don Young Way certainly did not have any influence on Young's objectivity.

They're building a bridge to Ketchikan, Alaska, you know. Certainly a good deal for the folks who live in Ketchikan. All 14,070 of them. At $223 million for the bridge, that comes to just under $16,000 per person. Those folks in Ketchikan better be going backwards and forwards over that f'in bridge 24/7, 365. All 14k of 'em.

$24 BILLION!!

But okay, okay, all bills have pork, sure. It's just how the system works, right? Maybe, but that don't make it right, and that doesn't change how repulsive it is when politicians positively CROW about how much pork they got for their state. Particularly folks like this yutz:



That's Representative Mike Pence of Indiana, a Republican who leads the House Conservative Caucus, and who touted the $16 million he got for central Indiana projects. Well, he's conservative right up to the point where he gets a sizable chunk of pork to chew on.

Kudos to the four Senators and eigth Representatives who voted against this putrid, bloated, irresponsible legislation. A pox on the rest of Congress and on the President.