The view from here. Bulk carrier "Marybelle," sailing under the colors of Panama, unloads its cargo acoss the street at Eastern Salt as the setting sun ignites the sky in l'heure bleue shades of Monet.
"MoveOn.org is organizing its members to encourage Congress to keep federal pork projects and waste taxpayer dollars, and we need your help to counter their attack on your pocketbook," emails Drew Bond of Town Hall, urging readers to call their members of Congress and tell 'em to support the Republican Study Committee's Operation Offset:
From a “bridge to nowhere” in Alaska to a fish hatchery in Montana, your household pays $22,000 PER YEAR for federal spending and pork -- the first time spending has reached this level since World War II. A few brave members of Congress have proposed “Operation Offset” to cover the costs of disaster relief by eliminating wasteful pork projects.
The next few days are critical to Congress’ progress cutting federal mismanagement of YOUR money and reprioritizing federal spending. They must know their constituents are watching.
Speaking of that Alaskan "bridge to nowhere," InstaPundit calls our attention to the Coburn Amendment, filed by Senator Coburn (R-OK) yesterday to the TTHUD appropriations bill and backed by The Club for Growth, that would transfer funding from the wasteful Alaska pork project to the repair and reconstruction of the “Twin Spans” bridge in Louisiana:
It's setting the precedent whereby members of Congress go after each other's taxpayer-shafting pork projects rather than turning a blind eye and engaging in logrolling.
It seems to me that this makes it an especially good project for bloggers to get behind, and to encourage their senators to support.
I think the country is better off with transparency, and I'd like to hear any Senator who opposes this measure explain why he or she favors funding a bridge that could buy a personal jet for every inhabitant of Gravina Island, instead of spending the money on fixing ruined bridges that people actually use in Louisiana. They won't want to talk about that, of course, but they need to be asked.
Let's ask 'em. We'll be calling our Rep, Michael Capuano, first thing tomorrow about Operation Offset and then on to Senators Kennedy and Kerry to urge them to support the Coburn Amendment. We know already that all three are on the side of MoveOn's "Stop the Reverse Robin Hood Budget" initiative and wouldn't dream of cutting an ounce of pork, but it's sound civic practice to let them know where we stand, and it's good clean fun to watch their minions squirm. Click here for links to your own members of Congress, and give 'em a little taste of that PorkBusters spirit.
Update: Favorite son Matt Margolis of Blogs for Bush invites readers to submit questions or comments he can take to the first-of-its-kind Capital Hill blogging conference with Representatives tomorrow. New Zealand Bear has set up a clearinghouse page to highlight participating bloggers' posts.
Update II: Mark Tapscott thinks "This could be a defining moment for America":
Mr. Smith is Back in Washington, and his name is Tom Coburn.
We like the sound of that.
Update III: All things PorkBuster -- PLUS an InstaLanche! -- from the Master of the Blogosphere.
Technorati tag: porkbusters
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