People act like it’s going to be a great day when the NYT and Washington Post are no longer around, but these stories show that they still are capable of producing some admirable work.
Yes. I interviewed Rep. Akin briefly a week ago but this issue didn't come up and wasn't on the radar screen for me to think about asking. He has two primary opponents, Brunner and Steelman.
We need to remember there is a conservative case to be made for earmarks. Would we rather have our elected officials designating where money goes, or unelected bureaucrats? I realize earmarking has gotten a bad reputation, and deservedly so, but especially for past earmarks we need to look at every one on a case-by-case basis. I don't have a problem with an elected official using his influence to get a project his district needs, especially years ago when most people on both sides of the aisle considered that to be the job of the elected officials.
54 posted on Tuesday, February 14, 2012 4:58:55 AM by juno67: “People act like it’s going to be a great day when the NYT and Washington Post are no longer around, but these stories show that they still are capable of producing some admirable work.”
Media are important.
Free Republic is doing a lot of good work. So are lots of other conservative websites.
But how many FReepers are going to local city council meetings and school boards and county commission, reporting how elected officials spend money on the local level? Is there a FReeper sitting in the press section of the U.S. House of Representatives, the US Senate, and their committees, and filing daily reports on their deliberations and decisions?
That's what the media are for. It's at least theoretically possible that Free Republic could someday hire a national correspondent to cover Congress, but that someday is not today, and until the internet media can figure out a way to raise the kind of money it takes to pay for Washington bureau reporters and support staff, we're pretty much stuck with the existing media situation.
I think we'll have a whole different ballgame in a decade or so, but right now what we have is what we've got.