At $286.4 billion, the highway bill just passed by
Congress is the most expensive public works legislation in US history. In
addition to funding the interstate highway system and other federal
transportation programs, it sets a new record for pork-barrel spending,
earmarking $24 billion for a staggering 6,376 pet projects, spread among
virtually every congressional district in the land. The enormous bill -- 1,752
pages long -- wasn't made available for public inspection until just before it
was brought to a vote, and so, as The New York Times noted, ''it is safe to bet
that none of the lawmakers, not even the main authors, had read the entire
package."
That didn't stop them from voting for it all but unanimously
-- 412 to 8 in the House, 91 to 4 in the Senate.
Huge as the bill was,
it wasn't quite huge enough for Representative Don Young of Alaska, chairman of
the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. ''It's not as big as
what he'd like," a committee spokesman said, ''but is still a very good bill
and will play a major role in addressing transportation and highway needs."
One wonders what more Young could have wanted. The bill funnels upward
of $941 million to 119 earmarked projects in Alaska, including $223 million for
a mile-long bridge linking an island with 50 residents to a town of 8,000.
Another $231 million is earmarked for a new bridge in Anchorage, to be named --
this is specified in the legislation -- Don Young's Way. There is $3 million
for a film ''about infrastructure that demonstrates advancements in Alaska, the
last frontier." The bill even doffs its cap to Young's wife, Lu: The House
formally called it ''The Transportation Equity Act -- a Legacy for Users," or
TEA-LU.
Christmas didn't come early just for Alaska, of course. Meander
through the bill's endless line items and you find a remarkable variety of
''highway" projects, many of which have nothing to do with highways: Horse
riding facilities in Virginia ($600,000). A snowmobile trail in Vermont ($5.9
million). Parking for New York's Harlem Hospital ($8 million). A bicycle and
pedestrian trail in Tennessee ($532,000). A daycare center and adjoining
park-and-ride facility in Illinois ($1.25 million). Dust control mitigation for
rural Arkansas ($3 million). The National Packard Museum in Ohio ($2.75
million). A historical trolley project in Washington ($200,000). And on and on
and on.
If Carl Sandburg had lived to see this massive avalanche of
bacon greasing its way down Capitol Hill, he would have named Congress, not
Chicago, the hog butcher for the world. Or perhaps he would simply have
seconded P.J. O'Rourke's timeless observation in *Parliament of Whores:*
''Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to
teenage boys."
Arizona Senator John McCain, one of the four who voted
no, called the bill a ''monstrosity" and wondered whether it will ever be
possible to restore fiscal sanity to Congress. If ''the combination of war,
record deficits, and the largest public debt in the country's history" can't
break lawmakers' addiction to overspending, he asked, what can? ''It would seem
that this Congress can weather any storm thrown at it, as long as we have our
pork life-saver to cling to."
McCain is a Republican, and it might
surprise younger readers to learn that spending discipline was once a basic
Republican principle. Hard to believe in this era of bloated Republican budgets
and the biggest-spending presidential administration in 40 years -- but true.
Once upon a time Republicans actually described themselves with pride as fiscal
conservatives. That was one of the reasons they opposed the promiscuous use of
pork-barrel earmarks, which are typically used to bypass legislative standards,
reward political favorites, and assert congressional control over state and
local affairs.
Ronald Reagan was such a Republican. He vetoed the 1987
highway bill because it included 121 earmarks and was $10 billion over the line
he had drawn in the sand. ''I haven't seen this much lard since I handed out
blue ribbons at the Iowa State Fair," he said. President Bush is a great
admirer of Reagan's record in foreign affairs. Too bad he shows so little
interest in following the Gipper's fiscal lead as well.
When Bush ran
for president in 2000, he described his Democratic opponent, Vice President Al
Gore, as a reckless high-roller who would unbalance the federal budget. ''If
the vice president gets elected," Bush said, ''the era of big government being
over is over."
Five years later, what is over is the GOP reputation
for fiscal sobriety. Republicans today are simply the other big-government
party -- just as capable of squandering public funds, and just as eager to fill
barrels with pork, as their fellow-spendthrifts across the aisle.
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