Of course, my issue with Davis is more: Has his position shifted? Are you sure? Really? How do you know?

First District Democratic candidate Rob Russell takes issue with Roe, Davis pork quarrel

In an article in Kingsport Times-News on July 6, Republican primary competitor Phil Roe challenged incumbent David Davis’s stance on “earmarks,” which he noted had changed since the Congressman first took office in 2006. Then, Davis supported legislation that would cap earmarks at 1% of total spending; now, he defends his use of earmarks by stating, “We wouldn’t have a medical school if there wasn’t something called an earmark.”

Democratic candidate Russell’s response:

First, let’s call earmarks what they are: pork. Whether it’s a pig’s ear or the whole hog, they amount to the same thing: Congress-approved spending that goes around the legitimate process of funding. The result of this is that the President is unable to control spending and government agencies aren’t able to select public projects based on merit and need. Spending often gets directed by Congressmen to pet projects with limited benefits to specific constituencies. According to Citizens Against Government Waste there was $13.2 billion in pork in the 2008 Fiscal Year budget.

Davis’s remark about the medical school (at ETSU) is also interesting. It may or may not be true that some funding for the medical school came from pork, but playing pork barrel politics in higher education is a highly controversial subject. Providing pork for research circumvents the justifiably time-honored process of competition and peer-review. Instead of competing for funding by presenting the best ideas and proposals — a process that has immeasurably benefitted America both economically and academically — earmarks for higher education weaken science by eliminating competition and awarding money based on a Congressman’s influence and desire to get re-elected.

And pork in education is on the rise. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, pork spending in education has risen from $528 million ten years ago to $2.25 billion today. While education represents only about 5% of the overall “pork pie,” the numbers clearly show that its use is growing dramatically.

Davis’s flip-flop is not surprising, considering that he’s trying to get re-elected and facing a strong competitor in Dr. Roe. But what Davis should realize is that the era of pork barrel politics is over, just as the kind of long-term incumbency that used pork to control regional loyalty is also fading.

I strongly support putting an end to pork barrel spending. At the very least, reform should begin by making the earmarking process totally transparent (identifying the Congressman, the recipient, and providing a well-documented rationale). It should be the duty of our elected representatives to work hard to better the lives of their constituents, but they should never do so by participating in a process that is so blatantly fiscally irresponsible and, frankly, undemocratic.

Go to http://www.robrussellforcongress.com for more information about Democratic candidate Rob Russell.