I only knew Ted Stevens by reputation, and it wasn’t a very good one. My condolences to his family, obviously. But it’s also fair to point out that the Senate has now lost two monumental porkers–Stevens and Robert Byrd–over the summer. On the House side, Appropriations Chair David Obey is jumping ship at the end of this term. If there ever were a time to reform the Appropriations process–and to establish a National Infrastructure Bank to apportion projects according to need rather than political clout–this would be it.
But there never is a time for Appropriations reform, is there?