Fat v T-Bone

One person's pork is the next guys bacon:

Despite a likely conservative challenge in next year's Republican primary, moderate Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.) won't be running from his record of bringing home the bacon.

A day after President Obama signed into law the $410 billion catchall spending bill for most federal agencies, Specter and Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) issued five news releases noting every earmarked expenditure they had secured in the legislation.

The 16-page list tallies up $161 million in projects secured by the senators, most of it coming through Specter's seniority on the Appropriations Committee. "This funding will have a tremendous impact on local communities," Specter said in one release.

Specter, 79, has essentially doubled down on a political bet that all politics is local -- and the corollary theory that all earmarks are pork except when delivered to your own towns, in which case they are a nice T-bone steak.

I do not have an issue with local representatives fight for funds for their constituents, but I do believe there should be more oversight on how those monies are distributed.

Bachmann and Kline are doing a great disservice to their districts by not fighting vigorously for the much needed projects and programs their people need. How a good opposition candidate can successfully point that out is the key to defeating them in an election.

Flash