October 15, 2010--Government Rears Its Ugly Head

Thus spake South Carolina's Senator Lindsey Graham about an earmark that he very much wants to see come to his state. This in spite of being, sort of, categorically opposed to this form of government appropriation. The "sort of" refers to his opposition to everyone else's pork barrel projects, as distinguished from his own pet boondoggles.

To his, sort of, credit, Graham's colleague, Senator Jim DeMint is holding firm to his convictions and opposes the $400 million of federal government largess Graham covets even though the head of the Tea Party in South Carolina, with whom DeMint is otherwise joined at the ideological hip, favors it.

Again, like Senator Graham, who the Tea Party despises because he at rare times has worked with Democrats, even though Mike Murphree, chairman of the Charleston Tea Party, passionately opposes earmarks, seeing them to be at the root cause of government overspending, he likes this one because it would be good for the state's economy and, not incidentally, to his own business interests as a well-positioned general contractor.

Life is complicated in the political fast lane, especially when governing frequently requires one to talk out of both sides of one's mouth. This verbal ambidextrousness is thus an essential skill for our leaders.

The $400 million deal may actually be something worthwhile. Far from Sarah Palin's bridge to nowhere. It would advance plans to dredge Charleston's harbor so that it could handle the mega cargo ships that will be plying the eastern seaboard once the expansion of the Panama Canal is completed in 2014. Goods from Asia will then be able to put in there directly rather than have to unload on the west coast, which then requires more expensive forms of transcontinental shipping. (See linked New York Times article for more details.)

If Charleston's harbor isn't updated, the region will lose billions of dollars in business and thousands of good jobs. Just the sort of thing DeMint says is essential to South Carolina and which neither Barack Obama, he claims, nor private investment, his favorite engine for economic renewal, have been able to provide.

But he is dug in because of presidential ambitions, with visions of being the Tea Party's favorite son dancing in his eyes. When it comes to ambition, even the welfare of DeMint's own people need to get out of the way.

Graham is more pragmatic and thus vulnerable to Tea Party excoriation next time he has to run for reelection. He says, "I'm all for change and all for reform, but this is where the reality of governing rears its ugly head."