Obey: Obstreperous, but Doing the Right Thing?

Dave Obey pouts loudly these days--and he's in mega-pout status. In fact, it appears that GWBush out-foxed Davey, when you get right down to it.

Heh.

A $522 billion omnibus spending bill had been scheduled for a House vote Tuesday, but House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D., Wis.) abruptly announced he won’t file it tonight and recommended substantial revisions before a floor vote. Obey said he is prepared to cut billions from domestic programs and eliminating all home-state projects or spending “earmarks” favored by lawmakers in both parties

That's the "good" Davey.

“I want no linkage what-so-ever between domestic [spending] and the war. I want the war to be dealt with totally on its own. We shouldn’t be trading off domestic priorities for the war

That's OK, too. No more pork? Who's to argue?

The chairman is described as most upset with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D., Md.), whose comments last week triggered new stories suggesting a year-end bargain trading war money for domestic funds. Obey is not alone. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) was described by one top Democrat as “livid” about Hoyer’s comments at a Washington Post editorial board breakfast.

So what's Davey gonna do? Apparently, propose only a war-funding bill, and let the chips fall where they may.

“If we’re going to lose we might as well lose with clarity so that people understand who is responsible for those inadequate investments,” the combative Obey said. “And if you take those bills down to the president’s level, [of spending before it gets vetoed] it is very hard for me to understand how earmarks can survive. It’s not a threat. It’s a reality.”

It's also a reality that pissing billions of dollars down pork-drains is criminal, Davey.