Inglis: Do As I Say Don’t Do As I Do
Written by Sam on March 12th, 2008
U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis plans to vote for legislation mandating a one-year moratorium on congressional earmarks, you know, those little spending add-ons that helped Republicans go from the majority to the minority in 2006, forcibly retiring a bunch of them along the way.
But, the Travelers Rest Republican says if the bill fails, he won ‘t be joining fellow Republican Joe Wilson of Lexington in swearing off earmarks for a year anyway.
“I’m very supportive of the earmark moratorium and will vote for it,” Inglis says, describing the plan as a needed reform on the road to abolishing the practice.
“But in the meantime, there will be some requests this year from South Carolina” that need to be addressed if they meet his criteria of economic development, local matching funds and serving the national interest.
What I read here is political posturing in an election year. How can Inglis expect anyone to take him seriously as a fiscal reformer when he says he’ll still stick his hand in the cookie jar if the rules don’t change? Yeah, we hear you, Bob. Earmarks are bad and all, but you’re going to make sure you still get your share of slop from the community trough all the same. Apparently some Republicans are adapting to life in the Minority rather well.
Cross posted at Carolina Politics Online
13
PM
Well we know that some Republicans in Congress don’t have too much of a problem being in the minority while offering “token” defense against liberal legislation, so long as they can retain their seats and keep the gravy train rolling. This complacent attitude is why the Republicans were in the minority in the House for 40 straight years until 1994, and also why the new Republican majority was queasy with the newfound leadership and didn’t take too long to abandon the tenets of the Contract With America.