Business as usual in Washington

As if anybody needed it, there's more evidence that promises from majority Democrats to change the way Congress does business were nothing more than balloon juice.

"Lawmakers hardly missed a beat after Hurricane Katrina in trying to grab money for local projects in the Army Corps of Engineers' budget," noted The Associated Press this week.

Remember how Democrats blamed the president for the New Orleans hurricane debacle? Not only did they blast the White House for its slow response to Katrina, they argued that the president had been lax in the years leading up to the disaster for not demanding that more federal money be spent on engineering projects protecting the city from potential flooding.

But it's hard to spend money on real priorities when members of Congress are focused on securing their cut of pork for the home folks.

The energy and water spending bills passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee last week were rife with fat, the AP reports, including:

-- More than $11 million to study the need for dam, shoreline and river projects around California -- courtesy of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.

-- $200,000 to kill mosquitoes in North Dakota and an additional $950,000 to improve boat ramps and docks -- secured by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.

-- $3 million to deepen channels on the Cocheco River in Dover, N.H., to allow more boat traffic to enter the city -- thank you, Sen. Judd Greg, R-N.H.

Meanwhile, all five members of Nevada's own congressional delegation -- comprising three Republicans and two Democrats -- still refuse to come clean about the earmarks they've requested in various spending bills. Citizens Against Government Waste (www.cagw.org) has compiled a list of every senator and representative, noting who has been willing to reveal to taxpayers the pork they've sought. So far, Sen. Harry Reid, Sen. John Ensign, Rep. Jon Porter, Rep. Shelley Berkley and Rep. Dean Heller have chosen to keep quiet.

Sad, but a telling commentary on how it's still business as usual inside the beltway.