Of hypocrites and clowns

If your window was open, you may have heard the howls coming all the way from Washington... Republican Senators having apoplectic fits over President Obama and the Omnibus spending bill that he signed (just short of the federal government otherwise shutting down.).

It was all about that venerable Congressional custom of earmarks -- project funds for the folks back home. Some of those funds do a lot of good and some are like the now-proverbial Bridge To Nowhere. Presently they make up between one and two percent of the total budget. And President Obama says he will work to eliminate the earmarks that have no public purpose.

But back to that fierce howling. 35 Senators (27 of them are Republicans) voted no on the bill. But, hmmmm... 28 of the 35 had inserted their own earmarks, worth some $240 million.

Hypocrites. Big time.

Oh yes, and in the next ring under the big tent, we find at least three clowns, er, governors, talking about turning down the stimulus funds that their states need so urgently. The faces under the clown makeup belong to Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina, Rick Perry of Texas and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana.

Hypocrites and clowns. Oh great.