Today's Washington Post has a big feature on how GOP
Appropriations Committee folks in the House are fighting tooth and
nail against saner voices in the party, against reforms of ethics
and of earmarks. One would at least expect the appropriators to
offer a principled, or at least principled-sounding, defense of
their position. But no. Idaho's Mike Simpson makes up (partly) in
candor what he and all his ilk so obviously lack in philosophical
principle: Rep. Simpson told the Post that "we are getting more
authoritative.... We are standing up for our turf."
Bingo! That's what this all is about, pure and simple: a nasty,
petty turf war. Nothing noble, nothing public-service-oriented,
nothing even remotely suggesting principle. Just turf. Power for
power's sake.
I write this as somebody who for two years was on the payroll of
the Appropriations Committee. But I never drank the kool-aid. The
appropriators who are more interested in preserving their own turn
than in serving the public interest aren't worth former VP John
Nance Garner's proverbial bucket of warm, uh, spit. A pox
on all their turf, and on their reputations.
topics:
Earmarks
