McCain and Coburn Battle Pork

RearClearPolitics WASHINGTON -- Sens. John McCain and Tom Coburn may force their colleagues to make an up-or-down public decision on proposals such as tucking $2 million for a public park in San Francisco into the nation's massive military spending bill. Last Dec. 20, this bit of pork was passed by Congress without debate and without a vote in the final version of the Defense Appropriations Act. McCain and Coburn last Wednesday proposed a revolutionary change in the way Congress has done more and more of its business over the past two decades. They announced their intention to "challenge" future earmarks as a violation of Senate rules. That would have meant a roll call vote on each of the 15,268 special spending items in 2005 (nearly a four-fold increase over the previous decade) that individual members quietly slipped into massive bills in the dead of night. I like the sound of that. Too much crap gets added in good bills. If I was in the Senate I'ld vote down a pork loaded bill in a heartbeat. This type of vote buying scams (that what pork is) is wrong and to hide it in a good bill that is needed is in my opinion unethical. The whole article is worth reading. And don't forget to pressure your Senator and Congressman to support anti-pork bills and rules of conduct.