Earmark Bart

It was absurd, after all, for people to have accused Bart Stupak of selling out an entire pro-life political career for a tow truck and a fence. Bart would never sell out for such frivolity. Bart knows Bart, and he says NO WAY!

But, just one short day after changing course on that long held moral campaign against abortion, Stupak submitted earmark requests that topped a half billion dollars.

Stupak requested more than $578 million in earmarks, including $125 million for a replacement lock on the Sault Ste. Marie, $25.6 million to build a federal courthouse in Marquette, Mich., $15 million to repaint the Mackinac Bridge and $800,000 to preserve the Quincy Mining Company smelter near Hancock in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

He was joined by the other ten members of the AAAC (Almost Anti-Abortion Coalition) in requesting a total of $3.4 billion in earmarks.

Who can say whether these earmarks really represent the sell out, or whether the addled lawyer believed he had already gotten a great deal in trade for his reputation--long waiting lines at the doctor's office, larger deficits, and higher health care costs.

Principles, particularly the firm kind, cannot be purchased on the cheap. Regardless, he sold out one way or the other.