Out: Earmarking
In: Lettermarking

"Lettermarking" is just earmarking via another route. It's a scandal that incoming GOP senators like Mark Kirk, who ran on an anti-earmarking platform, are already earmarking, just calling it something else.

In fact, "lettermarking" is worse.

What Kirk is doing -- and your senator is probably doing too, unless you ride herd on him -- is no longer including his spending preferences in actual bills, but writing letters to the administrative agencies asking them to direct monies in this way or that way. It doesn't have the force of law, but does have the force of coercion: An agency that wants to keep its budgets ever, ever growing (as is the goal of all federal agencies) knows damn well it had better do as requested.

At least "hard earmarks," as opposed to these "soft earmarks," are actually part of the constitutional process of proposing and voting and stuff.

The GOP's energy should be devoted exclusively to finding new ways to cut government spending, not new ways to spend it.

The GOP has been granted a two-year probation. It seems they are hellbent on violating the terms of probation and going back to political prison.

I don't know if the GOP is going to survive much longer. At some point, they just prove they don't care, and it's time for the party to die.

posted by Ace at 02:03 PM

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