Can a tiger change his stripes? Can the "Prince of Pork" swear off earmarks?
Do the Republicans get it? Judging by who they named to chair the powerful Committee on Appropriations, the answer would be a resounding "NO!"
Says Politico:
Rep. Hal Rogers may have sworn off earmarks as he lobbied his way into the powerful House Appropriations Committee chairmanship, but there's a reason he's earned the nickname "Prince of Pork."Over the past two years, Rogers has requested $175,613,300 in earmarks, including funding for a cheetah protection nonprofit that his daughter works for.
That earmark figure, compiled by the LegiStorm database, counts only the 98 earmarks for which Rogers was the sole sponsor and not the 37 that he co-sponsored with other members. All told, the longtime appropriator has requested $246 million in earmarks over the past two years. On Wednesday, House Republicans formally granted Rogers the Appropriations chairmanship.
Throughout his 27 years on the committee, Rogers has left a trail of earmarks, including a sparkling airport terminal in Somerset, Ky., that gets very little traffic, as well as a homeland security research center.
How recently has Rogers converted on earmarks? Citizens Against Government Waste named him "Porker of the Month" in August for sponsoring that Cheetah protection earmark.
And we're supposed to believe that Rogers has now seen the light and come to Jesus on federal spending? I'll believe it when I see it.
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