>>Ask and ye shall receive...
>>
>>http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:h.r.03784:

Indeed - they're on the right track here, more-or-less, I think.

>>
>>This is a Bill now in Congress. I suggest everyone contact their Rep and express your opinion about this Bill.
>
>Why do I not find it ironic that one of the sponsors of this legislation, Republican Representative John Doolittle - CA, seems to like pork-barrel spending as much as the next member of Congress:

It is ironic. But not so very surprising, probably. I work on Capitol Hill, so I get a close-up view of Congress at work often (the Senate has been housed at my agency twice in the past year or so - most recently from the Ricin scare). Or I can sit-in and watch either house in open-gallery sessions, usually boring, but still can be enlightening to the average citizen.

From my many years of "insider" observation, the pork-mess is now just a normal way of life for incumbent Congressmen/women. There exists a sort of "tacit" bipartisan agreement that most incumbents will receive a nice slice of pork, especialy nearing elections. That's one area both parties seem to agree on, unfortunately, pork amendments to get bills passed (or rather maybe passing bills is an excuse to get the pork!).

But I see no particular blame to either party or any individual, most all of Congress is guilty here.

If pork was more limited in scope, it might be easier to fix. But it's so widespread and very entrenched. Hence, the need for some sort of fiscal-discipline self-enforcement for all concerned (Congress AND voters), like the bill Mark linked to, is attempting to do. Basing the pork-reduction on tax cuts seems like an approach that might work - worth exploring, at least.