Earmarks

Sorry for the lack of blogging the last few days. I am profoundly overwhelmed right now. The big problem is this article due on March 15 that I feel still needs a lot of work. Anyway, I'll try to keep up but I might be a bit quieter than usual.

Anyway, I did want to mention real quick what a quixotic campaign McCain has against earmarks. His anti-earmarks amendment just failed in the Senate by a fairly sizable margin. The problem with this campaign is that earmarks are not bad things. There might be better ways to fund projects, but in principle most of the projects seem pretty OK to me. McCain is also twittering (i.e., some staffer) the most ridiculous of the projects each day. Here are some for today:

*$819, 000 for catfish genetics research in Alabama
*$190,000 for the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyo.
*$400,000 for copper wire theft prevention efforts
*$47,500 to remodel and expand a playground in Ottawa, Ill.
*$209,000 for blueberry production in Georgia…
*$285,000 for the Discovery Center of Idaho in Boise

How is any of this bad? Scientific studies need to be funded. I'm glad to see a historical and a scientific museum get some money. Playgrounds are good. I like blueberries. I don't know much about copper wire prevention except to say that if thieves are stripping copper wire from telephone lines that this is not a good thing.

So what's not to like here? Plus all of these things create jobs. Yet John McCain is more worried about stopping some money going to an Idaho museum than fixing the economy. No wonder he got blown out last fall.