One man's pork

THERE IS a lot to like about the ethics reforms the US House passed in the frenetic hours before taking its summer recess this week. Motivated by the bipartisan scandals that have badly tarnished Congress, the House under the new Democratic leadership of Speaker Nancy Pelosi set out to "drain the swamp," in her words, and clear up the infestation of special interests in Washington.

Among the changes -- adopted by a lopsided vote of 411 to 8 -- are requirements that lobbyists disclose campaign contributions, both individual and "bundled," and post them on a public, searchable website. Gifts of meals or trips from lobbyists would be banned. Lawmakers convicted of bribery or perjury would be denied congressional pensions -- too late to deny one to Duke Cunningham, maybe, but an overdue fix of this taxpayer rip-off.

But one reform adopted earlier this year may have had unintended consequences: requiring members to disclose sponsorship of legislative earmarks. These special projects in appropriations bills, often considered pork, include the notorious $230 million "bridge to nowhere" in Alaska. Rather than serve as a disinfectant, however, the sunshine now cast upon the practice has in some cases caused it to blossom, as members compete for bragging rights over who can bring home the most.

In Massachusetts, the undisputed earmark king is John Olver, Democrat of Amherst, the bookish former chemistry professor who is in his eighth full term. Olver personally tagged $34.7 million in earmarks in the current budget cycle alone, according to an analysis by the group Taxpayers for Common Sense. This is largely due to Olver's role as a member of the House Appropriations Committee and one of its "cardinals," so-called for the power they wield over the budget. Not all of Olver's earmarks are for his district, but he does get to distribute the funds.

Here is where one man's pork becomes another man's daily bread. Olver's earmarks include $6 million for improvements to the Fitchburg-to-Boston rail line; $1 million for downtown streetscapes in Pittsfield; $150,000 for repairs to the William Cullen Bryant homestead, a national historic landmark, in Cummington; $275,000 to renovate the Berkshire Music Hall; and $1.5 million for the Silvio Conte Wildlife Refuge. Each of these expenditures is important to somebody.

Olver's committee chairman, David Obey of Wisconsin, has pledged to cut earmarks in half this year, so they will constitute just 1 percent of the federal budget. And in an interview Tuesday, Pelosi insisted most earmarks are not "the corroding kind of giveaway." If they are, she adds, "the world will know because now they are transparent."

Disclosure may weed out the worst abuses. Still, a system that doles out billions for pet projects is a big reason Congress's approval ratings are nearly as low as President Bush's. It's nothing to write home about.