Getting Porked

Throw the bums out. That was the battle cry of Republican candidates in 1994 when they successfully took over both houses of congress on a platform of reform. A key component of that reform movement was fighting congressional pork via the line-item veto. Three years later, the young-Turks turned incumbents are finding the veto hard to live with.

Dozens of Republican Senators joined Democrats last week in overturning President Clinton's line-item veto of pork projects in a defense construction bill. This regressive action is completely inexcusable from a party that was elected to restrain government spending. Rather than thanking their political representatives for bringing money to their home states, voters should punish them for a breech of faith. Throw the bums out, indeed.