The oxymoron to nowhere

I almost fell out of my chair. The New York Times had a boilerplate editorial about competitive bidding, but when I checked it turned out they were writing about "earmark reform". Okay, and I'm in favor of putting cannibals on a diet, too.

"The for-profit sector does not get all the earmarks," they chirp, only comprising "about half the $2.7 billion in 1,102 earmarks tucked so far into the $636 billion Pentagon spending proposal for next year."

The beltway band and their followers in the press have lost sight of the problem. (Insert standard props for Sen. John McCain here.)