The Problem with Pork
Posted by Adam Graham in : Bill SaliMountain Goat Report takes me directly to task (althought as an aside apparently I’m only some guy on the fringe. Which is an odd accusation from a blogger for a party whose Senate delegation could fit in a Toyota Sequoia.) for my assertion that Congressman Bill Sali is a fiscal conservative warrior .
As proof, he cites four projects and suggests Bill Sali is “wallowing” in pork:
Let me make a few points here.
First of all, the attack is hypocritical. Remember, when Bill Sali was running for Congress, Democrats said he was such a hothead he couldn’t get anything done. Now, he gets something done and now he’s a pork barrel politician.
As the Idahoan likes to say, “We’re conservatives, not anarchists.” Sali’s $1.1 million is not unreasonable. Some of it does, unfortunately go beyond the original scope and intent of the Constitution and would better be paid for by state government or by private donations (I wouldn’t put the $500,000 in federal highway funds in the category.) However, as it is in the Judicial Branch, extra-constitutional demands have been placed on the legislative branch.
The current buddy-buddy system in Washington makes things hard. If a member of Congress opposes the outrageous spending request by a colleague (such as John Murtha’s $23 million earmark for the redundant National Drug Intelligence Center.) they face loss of far more mundane appropriations. Therefore, most stand by and refuse to oppose even the most outrageous waste.
Bill Sali is not one of that number. For example, even though the projects he’s requested will be in the Labor/HHS Bill, it’s expected to be vetoed by President Bush for its high spending and Congressman Sali has pledged to sustain that veto. Congressman Sali is doing what he sees as best for his constiuents, but he won’t play the Washington game and vote for a bill that will hurt our country to gain temporary political gain.
The groups that actually monitor government spending don’t demand that a candidate oppose all spending or not seek any projects. They rate members of Congress on how they vote on key economic conservative issues. I can guarantee you that Bill Sali’s efforts against government largesse will earn him a spot as a “Taxpayer’s Friend Award Winner for 2007″ from National Taxpayers Unions.
Time and time again, he’s chosen to go into the gap and oppose wasteful spending. Henserling, Campbell, and Flake have introduced anti-pork Amendments, and Sali has been one of only 42 members of Congress to be a reliable vote against pork. That places him ahead of more than 90% of colleagues, so yes, I say that makes him a warrior.
Comment by MountainGoat
Just to clarify, Adam. I’m not taking you to task on this, I’m taking Bill Sali to task. And yes your characterization of him as FC Warrior helped make the point.
A few points.
1) A person cannot cast votes against every earmark request while claiming congress needs to just say no, and then proudly list the earmarks that he’s requested hoping for brownie points. At least he can’t and retain any form of credibility.
2) Saying that “well, Sali’s earmarks aren’t as large as other’s earmarks” is a non-starter. The fallacies in that argument are so obvious that I don’t think I need to list them…things most of us learned by about the 1st grade.
3) Let’s look at the logic of saying that “well, Bush will veto the bill anyway and Sali will sustain that veto.”
In that scenario:
Sali requests earmarks.
Sali announces earmark requests with great pride.
Bush vetoes bill for bloated spending, which Sali contributed to in part.
Sali effectively says to the president “yes the bill was stuffed full of unnecessary spending, some of which I requested. I sustain your veto.”
Therefore Sali remains a fiscal conservative warrior.
That’s just ludicrous.
Comment by Adam Graham
1) Sali’s not voted against every earmark and he’s never said all spending is bad. Show me where he did.
2) It’s not just that Sali’s earmarks aren’t as “big” but their substantively different. Tell me, “do you believe the earmarks he requested are wasteful spending?”
3) A Congressional bill is very much like a soup. Everyone puts in ingredients, but sometimes the bill comes out poisoned. In that case, you fight the bill. That’s the difference between Bill Sali and the libs in Congress.
What’s this to you? Do you think government spends too much or too little? If you think it spends too much, do you really believe America is better off with big spending Congressman who get $200 million bridges instead of those who keep their spending requests small, reasonable, and modest?
Comment by Andrea Graham
$1 mill is a modest request? Good Lord, what is wrong with our country? I guess that’s what.
In general, I’d think most pork isn’t roads to nowhere, but worthwhile-yet-unconstitutional-to-fund projects that we simply don’t have the money for. The kind it’s easier to spot in other’s earmarks than our own.
The situation still strikes me of pressuring a politician and goading him into earmarking dollars for his state, and then calling for his head when he does (I mean the whole political machine, not any particular individual.) Even if this is a splinter-in-your-own-eye situation, and not being a politico I can’t speak to that, Sali needs our prayers, not condemnation. Washington is a hard place to hold onto your principles. We knew that when we sent him up there.
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