Ear-yee, Ear-yee, Part 1

When Congress reconvenes after Thanksgiving for the last few weeks of its lame duck Session, it has some loose ends to tie up before this Session goes into the trash heap of history.

About 12,000 loose ends, to be exact.

That would be 12,000 earmarks totalling billions of our taxpayers dollars in nine federal appropriations bills that they will be dealing with. I use the words "dealing with" loosely because it has really become an issue of not dealing with these secret appropriations that has created the dark process known as "earmaking."

Legislators may be retiring or coming back for a new Session next year, but either way, one thing's for sure: they are about to let the good times roll with our hard-earned cash between now and the end of 2006.

Like a thief in the night stuffing his pockets full of booty for pet projects before making a great escape, Senators and Congressmen everywhere are poised to once again get their bootious earmarks passed, making their escape with our money, while we taxpayers slumber or go on about our business as usual.

Earmarking in the dead of night with no one looking is out of hand with no signs of abating in sight.

Two years ago there were between 7,000 to 10,000 earmarks in federal appropriations bills. That's when the now infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" came to light. And that was under GOP, the party of limited government, leadership.

There's a thief in the house and it's time to set off the burglar alarms and call the police. Time to give our electees an ear-full. To get a new plan, stan. Drop off the key, lee, and just get ourselves free.

Though many pundits want to blame the War in Iraq and other scandals in Washington for the Democrats big win on Tuesday, I say the biggest scandal of all is the runaway federal budget under GOP tutelage. And voters showed their discontent on Tuesday.

As George Will writes in today's Washington Post, "At least Republicans now know where the Bridge to Nowhere leads: to the political wilderness."

Let's see, nowhere leads to nowhere. Perhaps our good ole GOP, espousing limited government and spending, will begin to read the map. And soon it will have 12,000 opportunities to correct course. Let's hope it starts taking them in the weeks ahead.

I will continue writing more on this earmarks abomination in future posts.

Meanwhile, Ear-yee, Ear-yee.