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Wall Street Journal calls LaHood one of 'the biggest spenders in Congress'

NEW YORK — In an opinion article last week, The Wall Street Journal questioned the choice of Rep. Ray LaHood, R.-Ill., to be the next transportation secretary, noting that in choosing LaHood, President-elect Barack Obama got more “Beltway hosannas for bipartisanship,” but at the same time managed to choose one of the “biggest spenders in Congress” of either party.

The paper called LaHood a “spending superstar.”

“As a long-time and stalwart member of the House Appropriations Committee, LaHood facilitated the incontinent spending that helped Republicans lose their majority in 2006,” the Journal wrote. “And he did so unapologetically, once telling a reporter for the Peoria Journal Star, ‘The reason I went on the appropriations committee, the reason other people go on the appropriations committee, is they know that it puts them in a position to know where the money is at, to know the people who are doling the money out and to be in the room when the money is being doled out."

The Journal reported that according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, in fiscal 2008 LaHood secured $62.7 million in earmarks for his district — either alone or working with other members. “That put him in the top 10 percent of House pork-barrelers,” the Journal wrote. “Obama repeatedly said during the presidential campaign that the earmarking system should be overhauled, yet he's elevated to his cabinet a Machiavelli of this system.”

The Journal also reported that LaHood’s “thin” background in transportation policy also made him a curious choice.

“Rodney Slater, who served under President Clinton, had been director of the Federal Highway Administration,” the Journal reported. “Norm Mineta, his successor, had previously headed the House Transportation Committee in Congress. The current transportation secretary, Mary Peters, was Arizona's director of transportation policy. LaHood, who's retiring from Congress after 14 years, once served on the transportation committee but was not particularly active in those issues or debates.

“On the other hand, with Mr. Obama planning what looks to be one of the largest single increases in federal spending in history, LaHood may be exactly the man for the moment. Though a Republican, as a fellow politician from Illinois he's also well known to Obama and his new chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel. The only ‘change’ he (LaHood) represents is the greater share of American income he'll eagerly spend.”

Lyndon Finney of The Trucker staff can be reached for comment at [email protected].