There is an old saying around Congress – there are Republicans, Democrats and Appropriators. With Republicans promising to reign in the federal government, the first order of business is to change the culture of the Appropriations Committee which has been the fueled the spending beast for decades.

The Republican leadership will decide on the next chairman of the Committee in a few days. The leading contenders are Jerry Lewis (R-CA), Hal Rogers (R-KY) and Jack Kingston (R-GA). Word on the street is that Rogers will select Bill Inglee as the Committee Staff Director should he get the job.

Who is Bill Inglee?

Inglee is the classic RINO who ran the Wednesday Group – the meeting of the liberal Republicans on the Hill. He went on the serve as a lobbyist for Lockeed Martin where he pushed for defense earmarks for the company.

To secure earmarks Inglee gave political contributions to leading Democrats include Jack Murtha (D-PA) and Dan Inouye (D-HI). In short, Inglee is not only a RINO, he is an appropriator through and through.

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As Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) and his team prepare for the next Congress, they are wrestling with a number of leadership and committee leadership contests that create a minefield for all involved.

Any House Speaker hopes his committee chairmen and leadership team will be made up exclusively of hardworking, competent colleagues who share one additional attribute that trumps all others: loyalty. They rarely manage to put together such a team, however, for a variety of reasons. Politicians being what they are, allies are prone to putting their own interests first when the chips are down. In leadership elections, winners are chosen not because they are the Speaker’s favorites but because of personal popularity, competing interests within the party caucus, or because of pressure from outside interests.

Boehner’s challenges are complicated. The Republican majority he leads was elected by voters who really do want change in Washington and tend not to trust “establishment” Republicans, nor anyone with whom they are less than familiar.

In addition, Mr. Boehner famously said after the election that he and his team heard what the voters were saying and would act on the message being sent. That means House Republicans have to try to “repeal and replace” ObamaCare and really try to tackle the out-of-control spending that scared so many Americans into their first political activism. Granting an earmark lover and big spender like California’s Rep. Jerry Lewis a waiver so he can chair the Appropriations Committee would be seen by many as selling out the principal message of the election — regardless of how loyal to Boehner he might prove to be.

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With corruption and abuse running rampant in Washington, D.C. coupled with a historic debt and massive deficit that some believe has the United States following in the footsteps of Greece, one would think the appropriators in Congress would concerns themselves with unnecessary and excessive spending, yet they are doing just the opposite.

The acquisition process related to the defense industry is a place where both Members of Congress and industry lobbyists have made a pretty good living by sending pork home and enriching the underbelly of the nation’s capital in the process.

Exhibit A: C-17

The facts are that the C-5 transport plane is being modernized to supplant the C-17 transport plane at a reduced cost.  The Air Force has repeatedly stated that it does not want any more C-17s, yet Congress continues to fund new ones adding $1.5 billion to this year’s budget for five more, after it added $2.5 billion to last year’s budget for 10 more.

But what’s $4 billion among friends when your country has a long-term deficit over 10 trillion dollars?

Secretary Gates has openly campaigned against any new C-17s, stating emphatically that he will recommend a Presidential veto of any appropriations bill that includes new ones.  Gates has said, “The leadership of the Air Force is clear: they do not need and cannot afford more C-17s.”  Any questions?

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From the Associated Press:

Rep. David Obey, a leading liberal Democrat and chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, intends to retire at the end of his term this year, Democratic sources said Wednesday. It is another blow to Democrats defending their majority in an election season of voter discontent.

Obey, 71, won the first of 21 terms in 1969—when a special election was held after President Richard Nixon tapped Melvin Laird to be his defense secretary. He faced a potentially bruising re-election campaign this fall.

His office issued a statement saying he would make a major announcement in early afternoon, but disclosed no details. The Democratic sources spoke on condition of anonymity to speak frankly about Obey’s decision before the announcement.

Obey, among a handful of veteran House Democrats who had been bracing for competitive races this fall, has routinely won re-election easily despite representing a competitive district. He won in 2008 with 61 percent of the vote. But he has never faced the level of competition as he does this year as voters sour on Washington.

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Taxpayers foot the bill for office items lost or stolen by members of Congress

Half-a-million dollar NSF stimulus grant pays to search for alternatives to Facebook

Stimulus funds pay to create an online database of bugs

Stimulus funds to pay for talking buses in Ohio; Human voices to replace beeping sounds that alert pedestrians of approaching buses

Congressmen successfully pressure the Food and Drug Administration to approve medical device manufactured by campaign contributor

Spending bills stalled by decision of Appropriations Committees to withhold government reports from the public and other members of Congress

Political ‘scientists’ lobby to keep millions of dollars in federal science grants

Congress will spend more than $100 million to put sand on beaches