The Most Unpopular Man In Congress
Robert Novak has an interesting look into the inner workings of the increasingly noisome swamp that is the House of Representatives. In highlighting just one battle over pork-barrel spending, Novak exposes just how bad it has gotten in the House since the Democrats took power. Note that he is not claiming the Republicans are one bit better, mind you. He simply points of how one Congressman, Republican Jeff Flake, has become an object of bipartisan hatred because he tries to stop the pork.
WASHINGTON — With the midnight hour approaching Saturday Aug. 4 near the end of a marathon session, Democratic and Republican leaders alike wanted to pass the Defense appropriations bill quickly and start their summer recess. But Republican Rep. Jeff Flake's stubborn adherence to principle forced an hour-long delay that revealed unpleasant realities about Congress.
Flake insisted on debating the most egregious of the bill's 1,300 earmarks placed in the Defense money bill by individual House members that authorize spending in their districts. Defending every such earmark was the chairman of the Defense Appropriations subcommittee: Democratic Rep. John Murtha, unsmiling and unresponsive to questions posed on the House floor by Flake.
Murtha is called "King Corruption" by Republican reformers, but what happened after midnight Aug. 5 is not a party matter. Democrats and Republicans, as always, locked arms supporting every earmark. It makes no difference that at least seven House members are under investigation by the Justice Department. A bipartisan majority insists on sending taxpayers money to companies in their districts without competitive bidding or public review.
Claims of newly established transparency were undermined by the Saturday late night follies. Flake, who ran a Phoenix, Ariz., think tank (the Goldwater Institute) before coming to Congress in 2001, is immensely unpopular on both sides of the aisle for forcing votes on his colleagues' pork. He burnished that reputation by prolonging the marathon Saturday session and challenging selected earmarks.
John Murtha managed to escape indictment in the ABSCAM sting because he was essentially holding out for more money and didn't take the bribe on the spot. Even CREW, not exactly an unbiased group, calls Murtha the most corrupt man in Congress. Yet he is presiding over the process of doling out the fresh gobbets of pork. Nope, no conflict there. When you're running a crooked shop, you want a crook at the helm for the big votes. The Democrats promised reform. What they have delivered involves John Murtha - that alone shows how badly they failed to fix anything.
There are a lot of people, regardless of political orientation, who are against pork - regardless of which party is in charge. Flake deserves our respect for at least trying to stir up the swamp a little bit.
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Donklephant » Blog Archive » Denny Hastert has left the building. — Sunday, 19 August , 2007 @ 7:49 pm
By FedUp, Monday, 13 August , 2007 @ 9:42 am
Until the good citizens wake up and do NOT re-elect this… this… this… (fill in the blank) we will be at his mercy. TERM and AGE limits. He has made a mockery out of the office and has thumbed his nose at all of us. Thin King of Pork needs to be roasted long and slow on a spit!
By feeblemind, Monday, 13 August , 2007 @ 12:33 pm
Have to give Flake credit for standing up to the rest of the House like that. It was an admirable effort.