The Lancaster New Era editorial, January 7, 2013, hits the disgusting nail on the head with this piece, “The dispute over Sandy relief aid House Speaker John Boehner was roundly criticized last week by New York and New Jersey politicians for delaying action on a $60 billion aid package for victims of Hurricane Sandy.”

The sliminess of politics and the pervasiveness of GOBAG (good ole’ boy and girl) “pork grabbing” shows it’s bloated, drool-filled face as the Congressional clowns rescued everyone, except America’s future generations – our kids and grandchildren- , from the “fiscal cliff.”

John Boehner, former “I don’t do earmarks.” braggert apparently has reeled in pork for the state of Ohio!

“Boehner weathered the criticism, and the House instead voted on Friday to increase the borrowing limit for the National Flood Insurance Program, which will pay out 140,000 insurance claims for property damage that resulted from the storm. The payouts will cost the federal government $9.7 billion.

“Boehner hesitated to act on the larger aid package, and now we know why: It’s called pork.

“Boehner was handed a bill from the Democratic-led Senate that addressed Sandy Relief, but it also was larded down with pork.

“Some examples:

• $150 million for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to dole out to fisheries in Alaska.

• $8 million to buy cars and equipment for the Homeland Security and Justice departments.

• $2 million for the Smithsonian Institution to repair museum roofs in Washington, D.C.

• $4 million for repairs at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

• $1.1 million to repair national cemeteries.

• $125 million for the Department of Agriculture’s Emergency Watershed Protection program, which helps restore watersheds damaged by wildfires and droughts.

• $50 million in subsidies for tree planting on private properties.

(Here’s another example from thinkprogress.org: “The legislation added an estimated $450 million for a particular bit of defense spending that the Department of Defense did not ask for and does not want. The item is a down payment that would obligate the federal government to future payments that could well be three or four times the increased spending added to this particular piece of legislation, with a big portion of the funds flowing to two cities in Ohio—Cincinnati, where Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) grew up, and Dayton, the largest city in his congressional district. The money will go to pay the costs to General Electric Co.’s General Electric Aviation unit and the British-owned Rolls Royce Group for their development of an engine for the new Joint Strike Fighter aircraft—money that looks, feels, and smells very much like an earmark.”)

“What do Alaska fisheries and the other items have to do with Hurricane Sandy? Nothing, of course. Except that they may have been inserted into the legislation by Senate Leader Harry Reid to shore up support for the whole package.

“In other words, politics as usual.

“Among Boehner’s most vociferous critics was a fellow Republican, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

“But Christie’s criticism more rightly should have been directed at the Senate Democratic leadership, who failed to send a clean bill to the House.

“Boehner says the House will vote later this month on the remainder of the aid package — $51 billion to state governments still rebuilding after the storm — and that it will not contain add-ons that have nothing to do with hurricane relief.

“It has been more than two months since Hurricane Sandy battered the East Coast, from North Carolina to Main, claiming at least 120 lives and inflicting billions in property damage.

“Emotions are still running high, and any unnecessary delay in getting aid to the victims of the monster storm is inexcusable.

“At a time when excessive federal spending has pushed the nation near its debt limit, it’s shameful that Democrats should attempt to sneak lawmakers’ pet projects into a Hurricane Relief bill.

“As unfortunate as delay might be, Boehner has taken the responsible course by insisting on legislation that provides storm relief but denies politics-as-usual pork.

“Boehner hesitated to act on the larger aid package, and now we know why: It’s called pork.”