Democrats' pork party

The Democrats lost seats in the Senate last month. They lost control of the House of Representatives too, but they are acting as if nothing has changed.

From the New York Post:

Exhibit A is the "omnibus" spending bill Harry Reid is trying to push through the Senate. This monstrosity contains about 6,500 earmarks -- special provisions inserted on behalf of lobbyists to benefit special interests. The lobbyists get big fees, the interest groups get handouts and the politicians get rewarded with contributions from both.

It's a win-win-win for everyone -- except the taxpayers who finance this carousel of corruption.

Defenders of earmarks and other forms of pork-barrel spending argue that this behavior can't possibly be corrupt because it's legal. But not everything that's immoral is illegal and not everything that's illegal is immoral -- and earmarks definitely belong in the first category. Normal people would call it bribery, but it's business as usual on Capitol Hill.

Equally troubling, earmarks and pork-barrel spending are the gateway drug that turns good legislators into big spenders. The new members may not take office until next month, but most are in Washington, and they're seeing how this process works. One hopes that they are shocked by this unseemly behavior -- but how long will it take before they get jaded and decide to play the game?

Voters put the Democrats in charge of Congress in 2006, partly because the GOP had lost its conservative bearings. Which is why 23 of the 33 Senate seats up for reelection in 2012 belong to the Democrats.

That's something to remember two years from now.

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