We have spent a considerable amount of electronic ink on this page criticizing California Republican Congressman Jerry Lewis (pictured) for embracing the "culture of big spending" that we believe played a large role in the eventual collapse of Congressional Republicans into minority status.  Lewis, who served as Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, and now serves as the top Republican, has a very unsavory attititude about even the most egregious pork earmarks dished up on Capitol Hill — I’ll vote for yours if you vote for mine.  That, combined with a rather imperious attitude when in comes to the primacy of "Appropriators" as the dominant class in Congress, make him the kind of Republican that is indistinguishable, most of the time, from a Democrat. (Check out this startling CNN video on Lewis).
 
That having been said, if you step back from Golden State politics, where Lewis is our top larder, there is no doubt that the most henouis abuser of pork barrel politics in the Congress is Representative Don Young from Alaska.  Most of Young’s notoriety comes from his and Alaska Senator  now-infamous "Bridge to Nowhere," the $398 million bridge would have connected Ketchikan (population 7,400) to its airport on a nearby island inhabited by 50 people.
 
You can read all you want about Young’s porker-prowess here.  But the short version is that this is the guy who called the funds he was procuring for earmarks, on the House floor, "..my money, my money!" and is currently under an FBI investigation.  He is one of the most prolific horse traders with the public purse that has ever served in Congress, and he is an embarrassment to the Republican Party.
 
The most immediate nexus to our own Lewis, and the impetus for this particular column, was learning that Young, who is facing a tough primary battle (apparently his Republican constituents might be weary of an all-pork diet) has received $7000 from his fellow Appropriator, Lewis (through both his candidate committee and a PAC he controls – source)  Young is being challenged by Alaska’s Republican Lt. Governor, Sean Parnell. 
 
Hopefully Parnell will "take out" Young, and increase a growing trend of self-policing, as the Party shows the doors to those who support egregious pork.
 
The solutions to outrageous earmarking is obvious.  State Senator Tom McClintock, the Republican nominee to replace Congressman John Doolittle in California’s sprawling (and GOP friendly) 4th District says that objective criteria should be established for all federal spending, including those items which currently tend to be funding through earmarking.  McClintock, when he is sworn into Congress, will be the fourth Californian to take a no-earmarking pledge (joining fellow GOPers John Campbell and Devin Nunes, and Democrats Jaqueline Speier and Henry Waxman – Club for Growth has the list).
 
Of course, when you mention earmark moratoriums around Jerry Lewis — I am told he bristles.  He very much reminds me of the alcholic who long ago decided he would rather drink himself to death than seek rehabilition.  Instead of drinking alcohol, Lewis is addicted to the politics of pork barrell spending.  Jerry Lewis almost retired this year, but didn’t.  We can all pray that after this next Congress, the "Minority Maker" (as dubbed by the Wall Street Journal) will go away. 
 
In the meantime, he is just another anchor around the neck of House Minority Leader John Boehner.  When Republicans had big losses last year, Boehner who was in the leadership ascended to the top spot (despite the obvious thought that you would pick fresh, new leadership to execute an about-face on political fortunes).  Boehner, in his election, kept just about everyone in place, including some who love spending as the GOP’s top Appropriator — a foolish decision to be sure.  If Republican’s can’t shake loose of the influence of porkers like Lewis, and ineffectual House Republican leaders who continue to empower them, then we may not see a Majority for a long, long time.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 17th, 2008 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.