Congressman Brags About Local Defense Spending But Did He Influence It?

(MoneyWatch)  This is a fairly typical article that often appears in the local press describing how Congressman Dan Boren (D-OK) secured all this money for his district through daunt of hard work and sweat. Normally a lot of these are written when a funding bill passes. In this case Boren is talking about just the Authorization Bill which just passed the House, but still has to go through the Senate and Conference.

This is fairly typical news story and is a criticism of legislators. There is no doubt that through earmarks money can be steered to one specific contractor or facility. Many of these are about things thought that were going to happen even if the Congressman or Senator did nothing. In this case he is discussing more work for the McAlestar Army Ammunition Plan (McAAP). The U.S. military since 9/11 has been expanding its capability to make ammo and other weapons mainly because use has increased so much in Iraq or Afghanistan.

In the recent past there have been shortages of certain types of ammunition such as 30 mm for AH-64 attack helicopters and even basic pistol and rifle ammunition. This means that it is not surprising that the Department of Defense continues to invest in the plant.

It also is rather annoying that the Congressman seems to think that his entire job is to funnel, and brag, about the money he is sending home from Washington. It is hoped that the money collected from all across the country is distributed based on the most efficient and necessary requirements. It is understood that is true but there is no need for the the legislators to keep bragging about it.