Another case of Congressional Republican (and Democrat) overreach

The big spenders in Congress know no shame. Only John McCain had the courage of his convictions of voting against the omnibus transportation bond bill last week. We thought President Bush was going to veto the spending bill; we were wrong. One thing appears to be more certain as each Congressional session passes. These Republicans are far different than Reagan Republicans, the appear to be in favor of make work projects and mass transit. Anything to get re-elected, we suppose.

"Egregious and remarkable," exclaimed Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., about the estimated $24 billion in the bill set aside for highways, bus stops, parking lots and bike trails requested by lawmakers.

McCain, one of only four senators to oppose the bill, listed several dozen "interesting" projects, including $480,000 to rehabilitate a historic warehouse on the Erie Canal and $3 million for dust control mitigation on Arkansas rural roads. His favorite, he said, was $2.3
million for landscaping on the Ronald Reagan Freeway in California. "I wonder what Ronald Reagan would say."

Reagan, in fact, vetoed a highway bill over what he said were spending excesses, only to be overridden by Congress. Meanwhile, according to a Cato Institute analysis, special projects or "earmarks" numbered 10 in 1982, 152 in 1987, 538 in 1991 and 1,850 in 1998. The 1998 highway act set aside some $9 billion for earmarks, well under half the newest plan.

With this vote, the gimmicky accounting of the costs of the war on terror and just plain stupidity the Republicans are saying "We are all free spending liberals now!"