Local earmark

Rep. Jon Porter, a Republican, teamed up with Democrat Rep. Shelley Berkley last week to defend a $200,000 federal appropriation for the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas.

The measure was tucked inside an omnibus federal spending bill.

Rep. John Campbell, R-Calif., is among several conservative congressmen who have crusaded this year against pork-barrel earmarks, through which members of Congress bypass normal safeguards on the appropriate use of federal tax dollars, instead simply grabbing some money to carry home, for all the world like the waiter eating some of the french fries off your plate before it makes it to your table.

Rep. Cambell sought to kill the Agassi academy expenditure.

"I don't think when taxpayers pay their taxes, that part of it is a repository for us as members of Congress to delve into the money, and say 'This is a charitable organization that I find worthy in my district, and here is taxpayers' money for that,' " explained Rep. Campbell.

"We are better off leaving the taxpayers with their own money so they can give it to whatever charitable organization," Rep. Campbell said. "I don't feel it is our right as members of Congress to hand this money out, no matter how worthy the cause is."

Needless to say, Rep. Berkley and Rep. Porter sidestepped this pertinent issue, spending their time gushing about what a wonderful institution the Agassi school is.

Well, it is wonderful. It's also a wonderful thing when kids find Christmas presents under their tree. Wonderful things also include puppy dogs and ponies. But the federal government has no business buying Christmas presents to put under anyone's tree, nor providing every tot in America with a puppy dog or a pony -- especially since the only way bureaucrats could get the money to do that would be to grab more out of the paychecks of working Americans, making it harder for us to afford to buy pets and presents for our own families.

In reality, all Reps. Porter and Berkley really accomplished last week -- in addition to blowing the federal debt and deficit even further out of control, was to demonstrate how worthless are the promises of either party to get a handle on this "earmark" potlatch.

The labor, health and education bill that finally passed last Thursday contained 1,338 such improper (and mostly unconstitutional) budget-busting earmarks.

Choosing their targets, Rep. Campbell and his allies proposed a mere dozen amendments -- little more than a symbolic drop in the bucket -- to delete a handful of this pork, including the Agassi academy earmark.

The number of those 12 cosmetic little budget trims that finally passed?

Not a one.