There may be a revolution brewing among House Republicans. For several years outside groups such as Porkbusters, the Club for Growth, the National Taxpayers’ Union and others have lobbied for a real crackdown on pork-barrel earmarks. When Representative Roger Wicker was recently appointed to the Senate to replace Trent Lott, that fight suddenly became more prominent. That’s because Wicker left behind a seat on the House Appropriations Committee, and the House’s fiercest opponent of earmarks has petitioned for the seat. Under normal circumstances, Flake wouldn’t have a chance. The Appropriations Commttee is the quintessential ‘Old Boys Club,’ and an old Washington saying tells us that there are three parties in Congress: Republicans, Democrats, and appropriators. The life of the appropriator is pretty simple: secure funds for your projects, look out for your friends on and off the committee, and raise campaign cash based on your position of influence. You’d no more invite Jeff Flake to join the club than you’d invite a monk to the Kennedy compound. But there are some indications that Republican Leader John Boehner may be ready to break with tradition:
This doesn’t mean that Flake is headed to the Appropriations Committee. But it would take a tone-deaf politician to raise the hopes of his base, only to crush them later on. Ed Morrissey recently identified this as a ‘brilliant opportunity’ for House Republicans. He’s right. But there’s another simple truth at play here: you can’t beat something with nothing. For House Republicans to convince voters to toss out the current leadership, they have to offer something better. Setting a monk to police the Kennedys may be part of the solution.
