House GOP Porkers Tell McCain to Drop Dead

Republican appropriators in the House of Representatives signaled they have no intention of going along with John McCain’s crusade against congressional earmarking should he become president.

The Politico reports

Out on the stump, John McCain gets wild applause each time he promises as president to veto every spending bill that contains an earmark.

But McCain will find it almost impossible to live up to his vow, and gridlock would result if Congress refused to go along with such an executive branch power grab.

And that’s what members of McCain’s own party are saying.

“I don’t think it’s the right approach,” said Rep. Ralph Regula, an Ohio Republican who has spent three decades on the House Appropriations Committee. “I haven’t done an earmark I wouldn’t be happy to have spread all over the front pages of the paper.”

Rep. C.W. Bill Young (R-Fla.), a former Appropriations Committee chairman, warns that both parties in Congress would protect their power against a no-earmark policy.

“The Constitution is very specific and very clear about who appropriates money,” Young said. “Not all earmarks are pork-barrel spending.”

Young and Regula received Porker of the Month dishonors from Citizens Against Government Waste in September 2004.