"It's time once again for a new round of Pin the Tail on the Porker," said the Los Angeles Times in an editorial. It's the same game with every big spending bill -- congressional rivals accuse each other of rail about wasteful earmarks congressional rivals have stuffed in. "The squealing has reached a crescendo as the Senate prepares to approve a $410-billion omnibus spending bill" with more than 8,500 earmarks costing nearly $8 billion.
The worse an omnibus spending bill like this gets, said William McGurn in The Wall Street Journal, the more likely it is to pass, and the more likely President Obama is to sign it. "The reasons confuse most Americans." But the bottom line is that each earmark gives members of Congress another selfish reason to vote for the bill by lavishing more federal money home on their constituents.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Brazil has a scorpion problemUnder The Radar Venomous arachnids are infesting country's fast-growing cities
-
Why Rikers Island will no longer be under New York City's controlThe Explainer A 'remediation manager' has been appointed to run the infamous jail
-
California may pull health care from eligible undocumented migrantsIN THE SPOTLIGHT After pushing for universal health care for all Californians regardless of immigration status, Gov. Gavin Newsom's latest budget proposal backs away from a key campaign promise
