Bill Young Still Living in 2004

Our own Congressman Bill Young - a frequent subject here - leads the ignominious race for pork in the current Congress.

Young requested 59 earmarks for local projects - 13 more than the number 2 culprit, Pennsylvania Congressman John Murtha.

In the top 20, Florida Congressman Allen Boyd appears at number 13.

By asking for so many earmarks, Young appears to be living in 2004, the last full year he chaired the House Appropriations Committee.

From 1999 until 2005, Young was chair of the powerful Appropriations Committee. The chair of that committee typically gets carte blanche to add pork to appropriations bills and Young made heavy use of that budget busting power.

Even though he no longer chairs the committee and, indeed, is in the minority now, Young is still doing his best to insert pork barrel items into appropriations bills - just with less success, especially now that new rules passed by the Democratic Congress call for (admittedly imperfect) transparency when it comes to these earmarks.