“The public is fed up” with pork, said Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. But are they? Most representatives and Senators consider pork, or earmarks attached to other bills which bring pet projects to their home districts, to be critical for re-election.

So if the public is so fed up with pork, why do they keep re-electing representatives who bring home the bacon? And who’s responsible for all this pork, anyway?

What you and I know as pork is known inside the Beltway as earmarks, attachments to other bills with spending for specific programs, usually targeted to a particular Congressional district, sometimes designed so that only a particular company can receive the money.

Although Mr. Bush embraced the idea of limiting earmarks in his State of the Union address, his newly released budget offered no recommendation on how to approach the issue. But it did warn of the hazards of earmarks, saying the push by lawmakers to add millions of dollars in pet projects to agency spending could be disruptive.

“Earmarks that are outside of an agency’s mission can detract from an efficient and effective federal effort on behalf of taxpayers,” said the budget document, noting that $900 million in health care research projects added to the Pentagon budget last year were better suited to civilian agencies.

The attention to earmarks, which have ballooned to almost 15,000 from 4,000 annually in the last decade, came as the administration on Tuesday began the job of selling its $2.77 trillion budget on Capitol Hill to restive Republicans as well as Democrats who said it hid the impact on the deficit and failed to account for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. — New York Times

Wait a minute. Pork ballooned after the Republicans took control of Congress in 1996? Yes, indeed. That’s their dirty little secret. They love to waste spend your money just as much as Democrats do. But it has indeed gone out of control in the last few years.

It’s time to downsize D.C. Start by urging your Representative and Senators to pass the Read The Bills Act.

Continue by voting for the only party committed to cutting government spending this November. It doesn’t matter if you don’t agree with them on every issue. You don’t agree with the Republicans and Democrats either. It doesn’t matter if they might not win. It only matters that the people in Congress know their jobs are in jeopardy if they continue their uncontrolled spending spree.