Portman's no Boehner

This article in the Enquirer covers Congressman Boehner's stance on pork barrel spending for his district.

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Most of Cincinnati's congressmen happily point out the money
they wrangled in this year's budget for local roads, museums, clinics, and colleges.

But not Rep. John Boehner.

He requested nothing for his 630,000 constituents north of Cincinnati.

It's not that they were naughty. It's just that, since he was
first elected in 1990, the West Chester Republican has refused to get local pork. Now some local Republicans leaders are starting to
chafe.

Porkopolis says bravo for Mr. Boehner. Now if we can get him to build a coalition of like-minded colleagues and hold-up the Omnibus bills as well that would be added progress. The article also quotes Congress Portman as follows:

This year Congress funded a Paper Industry Hall of Fame in
Wisconsin, fitness equipment for a YMCA in Pennsylvania and a new swimming pool in Kansas. Locally, the rest of the delegation earmarked money to help the Cincinnati Zoo, a Forest Park dance club and Northern Kentucky students who want to study astronomy.

"I respect John Boehner's approach to this, I really do," said
Rep. Rob Portman, a Terrace Park Republican. There are too many projects in the budget, he said.

But without Portman's intervention in the budget process,
there might not be a Fort Washington Way, a National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, or millions in University of Cincinnati research funding.

"Though we do not do a lot of earmarks, in some instances,
we think it's necessary," Portman said.

I take issue with the reporter's contention that "...without Portman's intervention in the budget process, there might not be a Fort Washington Way, a National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, or millions in University of Cincinnati research funding."

Oh yeah!? How about if we put all those spending projects up as a local state referenda and voted for them instead? They would then be funded out of the State budget process. That's at least one other way they could have been funded!

We need to get out of this mindset that the only way we can get things done is to send tax dollars to Washington, the politicians and bureaucrats then skim a good portion off the top and then send whatever is left back to the district.