The Swine Line

U.S. Rep Tim Ryan: The face of the Democratic Party’s future

Budget watchdog groups, like Citizens Against Government Waste, say Ryan’s focus on sending money to his district contributes to excessive government spending. Ryan had one of the worst scores for fiscal responsibility in Congress — 2 percent — in ratings the organization compiled from 2006 congressional votes.

“Pork doesn’t create wealth,” says its vice president, David Williams. “Look at West Virgini, where Sen. [Robert] Byrd has been sending pork for years.” …

Peterson Announces Decision To Retire

…In his 11 years in Congress, Mr. Peterson has established himself as a conservative on many other issues as well, although the fiscal watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) observed that he has gradually become more supportive of government spending.

“It was probably very symbolic of what happened to a lot of Republicans,” said David Williams, CAGW’s vice president of policy. Like many legislators, he said, Mr. Peterson was “enticed by the silent song of pork-barrel spending.”

One of the congressman’s actions won him CAGW’s unenvied title of “Porker of the Month” in December 2004. He championed a $100,000 federal grant to the Punxsutawney WeatherDiscovery Center, taking the Groundhog Day critter Punxsutawney Phil down to Washington D.C., for a press conference on the measure.

“He really went to great pains to try to defend his pork,” Mr. Williams said. “Taxpayers deserve better.” …