One of the favorite lines of reactionaries is, “Business as usual in Washington!”. They decry those members of Congress who fund local “pet projects” that anti-tax critics call “pork”. Here is a sample of what the Las Vegas Review Journal doesn’t like:

EDITORIAL: Business as usual in Washington

Remember how Democrats blamed the president for the New Orleans hurricane debacle? Not only did they blast the White House for its slow response to Katrina, they argued that the president had been lax in the years leading up to the disaster for not demanding that more federal money be spent on engineering projects protecting the city from potential flooding.

But it’s hard to spend money on real priorities when members of Congress are focused on securing their cut of pork for the home folks.

The energy and water spending bills passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee last week were rife with fat, the AP reports, including:

— More than $11 million to study the need for dam, shoreline and river projects around California — courtesy of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.

— $200,000 to kill mosquitoes in North Dakota and an additional $950,000 to improve boat ramps and docks — secured by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.

— $3 million to deepen channels on the Cocheco River in Dover, N.H., to allow more boat traffic to enter the city — thank you, Sen. Judd Greg, R-N.H.

Imagine that people actually blamed President Bush for the bungled and scandalous response to Katrina? Heck of a job, Brownie! And the nerve of Sen. Feinstein to fund dam, shoreline and river projects in her own state!

$441 billion dollars has been spent in Iraq. Which is $441 billion dollars that has gone down the drain. We are headed for one trillion.

But defense money is NEVER CALLED “pork”. That’s “fighting the terrorists” and that type of spending and waste is beyond criticism for those who think $200,000 is a lot of money to battle mosquitos in N. Dakota.