The Blue Dogs' Pork Problem

Hypocrisy isn't limited to Cons, frothing fundies, and other assorted IDiots. The Blue Dog Democrats have got a severe case of it themselves:

Bloomberg's Christopher Stern speaks a truth that's been obvious to those who've been paying attention -- namely, that the Blue Dogs, who pitch themselves as the Enemies of Pork, have their snouts buried deeply in the Federal trough:

U.S. Representative Jim Marshall is a Georgia Democrat and a member of his party’s Blue Dog Coalition, a group of lawmakers bound by a desire to restrain federal spending. The Blue Dogs have something else in common: a fondness for funding pet projects.

Marshall alone requested more than $12 billion worth of the so-called earmarks in the 2010 federal budget. His proposals range from $388,850 to aid 14 local farmers’ markets to $4.2 billion to purchase C-17 heavy-lift transport aircraft.

Overall, Blue Dogs submitted more than 2,500 individual earmarks totaling some $20 billion. That underscores the conflict between their eagerness to bring federal money home and the coalition’s criticism of the budget as laden with pork.

“It’s really hard to smack government’s wrists with the one hand while the other hand is looking for as much earmark cash as you can grab and bring home to your district,” said Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a Washington-based public-interest group.

This is why I'm going to be doubled over with laughter every time they bleat about lavish government spending.