The federal trough.(letters to the editor)(Letter to the editor)

Ramesh Ponnuru's article ("Against the Porkbusters," May 28) abandons the principles of small government that this country was founded on in favor of a utilitarian argument that measures success by percentages.

The Constitution does not give Congress a blank check to spend tax dollars on anything it wants in whatever way it wants. Spending $223 million on the "Bridge to Nowhere" or $500,000 on the Sparta Teapot Museum is not an appropriate exercise of Congress's power of the purse. Nor would the Founding Fathers have approved of legislators' using federal tax dollars to reward special interests that donate to their reelection campaigns.

In 1822, President James Monroe argued that federal money should be limited "to great national works only, since if it were unlimited it would be liable to abuse and might be productive of evil."

The expenditure of taxpayer money on pork is wrong, no matter how high or low the cost. To use an analogy close to Mr. Ponnuru's heart, it is akin to the prolife movement's going after partial-birth abortion even though it affects only a small fraction of abortions.

Earmarking has become a feeding frenzy that is devoid of oversight, discipline, and accountability. Pork-barrel spending creates a few winners (incumbents, special interests, and lobbyists) and a great many losers (taxpayers). It contributes to the deficit both directly and ...