Put pork barrel spending up for a public vote — Page 1 — TimesUnion.com
Shame, shame on the Times Union. For such a prestigious arm of the media to have the colossal nerve, nay, the unmitigated gall to dare question the “pork barrel” spending (excuse me, that’s called “discretionary funds”).

Discretionary tends to give an air of legitimacy to a yearly giveaway by the state Legislature. Apparently no one on your editorial staff was watching TV the other night when our Senate majority leader, Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick, chastised our attorney general for even daring to question the pork barrel spending.

Bruno’s words: “We’ve been doing this for 200 years. We are elected by the people and if they don’t like it they can show it at election time. You have no right to question it.”

I can see Bruno’s point; after all it’s only about a quarter of a billion dollars. At that rate it only amounts to a billion dollars every four years.

I think they should be able to take care of their sons-in-law, daughters, nieces and nephews whose businesses need a little boost here and there. A hundred thousand here, two hundred thousand there, after all, it is their “right.”

So, if you and the attorney general keep hounding them, perhaps the vox populi will stand up and be counted. Perhaps those “slush” funds will wind up bolstering schools, Medicaid, social services, and medical research. A quarter of $1 billion every year would go far in extending those services.

If Joe Bruno really, really thinks the pork barrel is the Senate’s right, let him put it up for a vote by the people, not by the Senate, and see how long it lasts.

JOSEPH N. BASILE

Albany

It is kind of hard to vote them out in an election when there is no one to run against them. Especially when they get cross endorsed. Anyone game for a primary? Only a couple days to get signatures.