Editorial: Youngs Earmark StinksRep. Don Young’s (R-AK) ethically and legally questionable $10 million Coconut Road earmark doesn’t smell right to the editorial board at the Naples Daily News, the paper that originally broke the story.
From the earmark’s mysterious appearance in the 2005 transportation bill for the narrowly tailored project, to the revelation that the allocation came from a far-flung congressman, the editorial board didn’t like what it saw.
Now comes the worst smell test failure. A study compiled by a retired veteran of congressional funding practices shows the earmark was changed to specify Coconut Road between the time an overall transportation bill was passed by Congress and later signed by President Bush. Editing solely for style rather than substance is supposed to take place at that stage.
As we reported last week, this is an extremely unusual case.