Oink Oink

The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act was passed rather decisively by both the House (411-8) and the Senate (82-14), but the Wall Street Journal hopes to see Bush veto because:

The bill includes a sham earmark reform provision that falls well short of what Democrats campaigned for last year, and short of what each house passed earlier this year before the watered-down version came out of nowhere last month.

Reason provides more context for the earmark problem:

"Consider what happened last month when Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) challenged a $100,000 appropriation for a prison museum near Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The earmark's sponsor, Rep. Nancy Boyda (D-Kan.), defended the honor of Leavenworth County, bragging that "we probably have more prisons...than any other county in the United States."

The House approved Boyda's earmark by a vote of 317 to 112. Later she told The New York Times, "Democracy is a contact sport, and I'm not going to be shy about asking for money for my community."

So $100K, technically is small change in the budget, but the 6,000+ earmarks add over $30 billion to the budget. The West Wing had an episode in which Sam got smacked down by an intern who could supply a noble reason for a seeming pork project. But it's not about a noble cause--it's a form of extortion (for votes) and plunder of sorts. The "cause" is just a rationalization of the waste.

FYI, Jeff Flake, John McCain and John Kyl voted no.