I’ve stated before that Senator Tom Harkin is a national treasure. As long as he resides in the Senate he will be a shining beacon of government waste. Now the godfather of pork is in favor of pork to research the smell of pork. I have a pretty rich imagination but even I couldn’t come up with this story. Not only did Tom Harkin have the audacity to ask for $1.8 million for pig odor research (Tom Harkin), he defends asking for the money.

“It is critical to our state’s economy but as the demand has grown for pork and as we produce more pork, you can understand that the management problems of what to do with the waste has become very serious, not only for the odor problems but the waste itself,” he said, adding that the research would examine the food swine eat and the management of what is done with the waste. “This is not wasteful or unnecessary or frivolous,” Harkin said.

Oh contraire, it is most definitely wasteful, unnecessary, and frivolous. If this is such an important issue in Iowa than the taxpayers of that state should pay for it. It is certainly not the best interesting of the United States to spend money on odor research. Where does this end? Rat elimination research could benefit many cities. Can the government give me a million dollars to get rid of the rats in my attic? If Obama doesn’t veto this earmark laden bill I’m not sure how anyone can take him seriously any more. The Democrats simply saved all their earmarks for this one bill. At some point the President has to stand up to Congress or his presidency is going to become a farce.