Oink

As John McCain rails like King Lear, Barack Obama is doing Scarlett O'Hara ("I'll think about that tomorrow") over Congressional pork in the new budget.

Literally. The President is scheduled to speechify about wasteful spending today after his press secretary promised yesterday, "The rules of the road going forward for those many appropriations bills that will go through Congress and come to his desk will be done differently."

Getting between a member of Congress and meat for the voters back home is a dangerous move for a president, no matter how high his approval ratings.

"I don't think the White House has the ability to tell us what to do," House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer huffs, adding, "I, philosophically, believe that it would be an undermining of the Article I responsibilities given to the Congress of the United States if it were to abandon its right to add items that it believes are priorities for our country...That's our responsibility, and we ought to keep that responsibility."

So taxpayers will keep underwriting the promotion of astronomy in Hawaii, improving blueberry production in Georgia, cricket control in Utah and all those other vital expenditures in a crashing economy.

“When do we turn off the spigots?” McCain wailed on the Senate floor yesterday. “Haven’t we learned anything? Bills like this jeopardize our future.”

But, until some form of public financing for elections kicks in, projects like tattoo removal for former gang members will be a priority for insuring the future of his Congressional colleagues.