Hiding the pork

Robert Novak:

NEARLY the entire federal government would be funded by an omnibus ap propriations bill to be unveiled today after covert negotiations. In subsequent parliamentary maneuvering likely to extend all through this week, Democrats will pare the spending level to the maximum demanded by President Bush in order to avoid a veto. Republicans will declare victory. In fact, they are in retreat.

As the minority party in Congress, the GOP will have less than 24 hours to read the massive bill before it comes up for a House vote on Tuesday. While at least coming close to the Bush limit, the bill will be passed over Republican opposition because it contains no Iraq war funding. It then will go the Senate on Wednesday, where Republicans will use their filibuster threat to insert money for Iraq. Overall spending will be reduced to the Bush standard in the Senate by means of an across-the-board cut.

The bill then will be passed into law by the House, though Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she personally will vote against this solution that, in effect, finances the war at the expense of domestic programs.

This solution is designed to win bipartisan support because it will contain the earmarks for pork-barrel spending back home dearly desired on both sides of the aisle. It became clear a week ago that Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell was in negotiation with Majority Leader Harry Reid for a bill to finance multiple new earmarks by means of across-the-board reduction in government programs. What's more, a little rules chicanery will hide an estimated 12,000 new earmarks, including pork that previously had not been passed by any chamber and is "airdropped" into the bill. The wily legislators have found a way to get around new ethics rules that require disclosure of all such spending.

Nobody can predict even at this late date exactly the outcome of this intricate legislative process. It is not totally out of the question that an omnibus money bill still will fail and that Bush will achieve his real desire.

On Friday, the president advocated a continuing resolution (CR), keeping spending at last year's level without new earmarks. That is also the goal of the GOP's House leadership. But because that is a very unlikely outcome, Republican reformers believe they have lost a golden opportunity to regain their old "brand" of fiscal responsibility by fighting to the end in the budget battle.

...

But the overriding reason for backing away from a showdown on government spending was the feeling in both parties that elected representatives cannot return home without booty, financed by the bank accounts of American taxpayers. However, House Minority Whip Roy Blunt, not known previously as a foe of earmarks, has come to the conclusion that his colleagues vastly overrate the political necessity of pork.

...

There is not a piece of pork that my representative could bring to this district that would effect my decision in an election. None. I think the pork is more for the local politicians whose support is deemed important. To me it is not. I am very disappointed that Republicans have put themselves into the position where they have to help the Democrats slip the pork by the President. One thing that become clear through the Novak piece is that the pork is more important to the porkers than the functioning of government, if they are willing to stick an across the board cut, in order to get their pork. A good alternative to test them would be to take the across the board cut and cut the port too.

Captain's Quarters has more on the pork shuffling. The Heritage Foundation is also all over the omnibus porking. Also see this statement by Congressman Jeb Hensarling. Hensarling is a Republican congressman from Texas who is likely to be the next leader in a long line of Texans in Washington.