June 12, 2007

Politicians are so transparent, whether here in the UK, or back in Washington.

The democrats promised a new day of ethics reform. Plus, they promised to open up the pork barrel process and do something about earmarks, those spending projects for individual members to curry approval at home – and votes.

Six months into their new majority, house democrats are moving in the opposite direction. Rather than including specific projects in bills as they are being written, they are keeping the bills free of earmarks until it is too late for critics to effectively change them.

Liberal democrat David Obey of Wisconsin says the spending requests for dams, community grants and research contracts for favored universities or hospitals will be added to spending measures in the fall. Such requests total billions of dollars. And democrats say they want to raise our taxes so they can spend even more.

This is why we need term limits, but expect them only when the public has had enough.

Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C.