Tiptoeing Through the Tulips
Mindful that he will be in a tough fight at his own party's convention next year when he tries to equal his father's tenure of four terms in the U.S. Senate, Sen. Bob Bennett is walking a tight rope between showing how his seniority and clout in the Senate benefits Utah and deflecting his critics' claims that he has become too much of a Washington insider.
To show his clout, Bennett announced last week that he successfully passed a number of Utah funding projects in Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies to secure more than $8 million for the Beehive State in Fiscal Year 2010.
He was able to secure in the budget an additional $1 million for construction at the Utah Museum of Natural History at the University of Utah and $1.5 million to continue development of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. In addition, Bennett announced he secured about $6 million in land acquisitions and public works grants.
Bennett has a proud history of steering federal money to Utah for needed projects and he played a significant role in getting the funding needed to complete the Trax light rail line in Salt Lake City in time for the 2002 Winter Olympics.
But success comes with a price and a strong conservative wing in Utah's GOP sees the influx of federal appropriations to local projects as a camel's back-breaking addition to the crushing national debt.
These conservatives, which will have a strong voice in next year's convention, decry these projects as wasteful government spending, hence earmark-basher Jason Chaffetz' upset victory over 12-year incumbent Chris Cannon in the GOP Primary last year.
So what can Bennett do? Probably what he has been doing, working to represent the state's interests the best he can and let the Cowboy Caucus cow chips fall where they may.
Cheers,
Paul Rolly
To show his clout, Bennett announced last week that he successfully passed a number of Utah funding projects in Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies to secure more than $8 million for the Beehive State in Fiscal Year 2010.
He was able to secure in the budget an additional $1 million for construction at the Utah Museum of Natural History at the University of Utah and $1.5 million to continue development of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. In addition, Bennett announced he secured about $6 million in land acquisitions and public works grants.
Bennett has a proud history of steering federal money to Utah for needed projects and he played a significant role in getting the funding needed to complete the Trax light rail line in Salt Lake City in time for the 2002 Winter Olympics.
But success comes with a price and a strong conservative wing in Utah's GOP sees the influx of federal appropriations to local projects as a camel's back-breaking addition to the crushing national debt.
These conservatives, which will have a strong voice in next year's convention, decry these projects as wasteful government spending, hence earmark-basher Jason Chaffetz' upset victory over 12-year incumbent Chris Cannon in the GOP Primary last year.
So what can Bennett do? Probably what he has been doing, working to represent the state's interests the best he can and let the Cowboy Caucus cow chips fall where they may.
Cheers,
Paul Rolly
2:41 PM
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4 Comments:
So, today Sen. Hillyard posts on the Senate Site about Bear Lake Watch. "There needs to be more investment from State and Federal governments into the infrastructure to preserve this asset." Hmmm. The State supports those against Federal pork, yet posts on letterhead we need Federal pork to support Bear Lake infrastructure. You replace Bennett with a Chafetz style character, and you can kiss that pork for Bear Lake goodbye. You keep him, you can still use him as a whipping boy, but take the money he gets.
Congress spends our money. Do they do it by voting on a specific issue and deciding if it needs federal dollars, or to the take money that has been budgeted to a department away from that department and give it to their friends.
It is time earmarks were no longer the return on investment for big money, incumbents re-election campaigns, or lobbyists.
A city shouldn't have to pay some lobbyist to donate to a campaign fund of someone back in DC to get the help they need from the federal government.
I like the way Rep. Chaffetz is doing things. Keep it up.
The only choices for the US Senate are Cherilyn Eagar and Sam Granato. Bennett can't win 40% at convention and so he might as well pack his bags and move back to Utah.
Side note: Rep. Chaffetz is saying he is staying out of the 2010 US Senate race. He is not endorsing a Candidate until they are the party nominee.
He might be staying out of it, but I am not.
Yeah let's give even more authority to agency bureaucrats. They already control 99 percent of the budget, let's make it 100 percent. This issue is one big red herring.
And what about that flip flop by Chaffetz on earmarks? Oh wait those aren't earmarks, it's just "congressionally-directed spending." Please try and defend your man crush on that one, arc.
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