Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Editorial: Don't give this bacon to Virginia Tech
The school wants a $1 million earmark. Virginia's congressional delegation should make the school compete for it.
From the RoundTable blog
Read the latest entries
In our more optimistic moments, we like to hope federal officials objectively decide how to get the most bang for taxpayers' bucks, that they award contracts and grants based on who can best build a bridge, conduct some research or supply troops overseas.
Such flights of fancy soon pass as we remember that senators and representatives prefer earmarks and pork.
We could rail, yet again, against a dysfunctional system designed more to win elections than responsibly manage the nation's finances, but what's the point?
Congressmen will continue to fund pet projects. A few lawmakers, such as Richmond's Rep. Eric Cantor, might swear off pork, but they are too few to make a real difference. Most are lemmings like Rocky Mount's Rep. Virgil Goode, who says he uses earmarks because everyone else does.
No, today we simply urge Virginia's congressional delegation to try holding the line just once, on a single earmark.
Virginia Tech seeks a $1 million handout for research into ways to prevent violence in public places such as college campuses, shopping malls and stadiums. The school would collaborate with Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Virginia on the research. Gov. Tim Kaine's office backs the request.
That sounds like a worthwhile federal investment. After all, if researchers can find ways to prevent campus violence, schools across the nation would benefit.
And maybe Tech's researchers are the most qualified in the nation. Maybe having had a shooting on campus gives them special insights shared by few institutions.
Then again, maybe not. That's why officials usually award these sorts of research grants through a competitive application process.
Tech could make its strongest case for the money; other research institutions could make theirs. Then, the overseers of the money -- it would come from the Department of Homeland Security in this case -- could decide who has the best chance to deliver useful results.
The Virginia delegation has the power to insist on that. It could also ensure Homeland Security has $1 million more to pay for such a grant rather than take it from some other department program.
If Virginia's representatives and senators say no this once, they might find it easier next time. Their peers might see that it is possible to resist the sweet lure of earmarks. At least lawmakers would place public safety ahead of a local, politically attractive handout.
We can hope.
