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RE: The 60 bil package is almost all pork. Someone posted it yesterday. It was insane.

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Boehner didn’t hold up the relief measure because he’s a mean man who wants the suffering to continue in devastated areas. He did so because the $60 billion was larded with pork-barrel projects unrelated to storm damage. Here’s a very short list:

• $13 billion for large infrastructure projects that we are assured would “mitigate” damage from future storms.

• $10.8 billion for public transportation, almost entirely for future projects, not disaster relief.

• $207 million for the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Manhattan Medical Center.

• $199 million in tax breaks for rum makers.

• $188 million for upgrading, not repairing, Amtrak rail lines.

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

• $100 million for a federal day-care program.

• $57 million for tracking debris from the 2011 Japanese tsunami.

• $20 million for a national “water priorities” study.

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

Remember, this is just the short version of the pork list. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, says a bill that focused solely on Hurricane Sandy relief would be less than half of $60 billion.

That’s just the bill Congress should pass – with matching cuts in existing federal spending to keep down the deficit. That’s just the bill Congress would pass – were it run by responsible adults who could do sixth-grade math and who didn’t want to bequeath their children and grandchildren with crushing government debt.

But instead, most Democrats and too many Republicans just want to rev up the presses and print more money.