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AD Quality Auto 360p 720p 1080p Top articles1/5READ MOREPettersson scores another winner, Canucks beat Kings“He’s trying to overcome a six-year legacy of borrowing money, and I think he’s finding it difficult to have credibility on the issue.” While Bush signed off on a $460 billion defense bill, he vetoed a $150 billion bill funding the Labor and Health and Human Services departments. And he also has set the stage for rejecting a $105.6 billion transportation bill that exceeds his budget by $2.3 billion. But the two measures alone include more than $36 million for pet projects in Los Angeles, Ventura, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Chief among them: $2.3 million that Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands, obtained for Needles Highway improvements; $1 million that Rep. Howard Berman, D-Van Nuys, secured for the Southern California Regional Rail Authority; and more than $500,000 that Rep. David Dreier, R-Glendora, got for the Methodist Hospital of Southern California in Arcadia. WASHINGTON – President George W. Bush has placed himself squarely between the Southland and millions of dollars for transportation and social services, blocking two appropriations bills in an attempt to rein in spending. Congress is gearing up for a battle, with House Republicans upholding presidential vetoes and Democrats accusing their GOP counterparts of ignoring the poor while suddenly rediscovering fiscal conservatism. But caught in the middle are dozens of Southern California legislators’ pet projects – known as earmarks – for everything from roads and hospitals to job-training programs, museums and after-school groups. “I think the president has decided that politically, it’s better digging his heels in,” said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, who is on the House Appropriations Committee. Still, every Southland Republican has backed Bush’s veto of the bills, despite the possibility of losing hundreds of thousands of dollars for their own districts. Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, is among them. The congressman’s vote against the bills may mean forfeiting about $750,000 he secured for museum and hospital transportation programs, but McKeon said he can’t support rampant overspending. The Labor/HHS measure alone busts Bush’s budget by nearly $10 billion. “A billion dollars is a lot of money, and I think it’s about time we start thinking about it here,” McKeon said. But when Republicans were in the majority, McKeon and his GOP colleagues routinely voted for bloated spending bills, and Bush signed every one of them. For example, the 2005 Labor/HHS measure – the last time the House passed that appropriation – was $3.7 billion over Bush’s request. Asked what makes him more fiscally steadfast this year, McKeon smiled and noted that Democrats made unchecked spending a winning issue in the 2006 campaigns. “We finally learned our lesson,” he said. “I think the president learned, too. I thought the Democrats learned, but it looks like they didn’t.” Not that Republicans are getting the kind of cash they used to reap for pet projects. In previous years, GOP lawmakers like Dreier and Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Thousand Oaks, would issue press releases announcing $14 million worth of funding in a single bill. Now – according to a compilation of funded earmarks created by the Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense – the average Southland Republican brought home a total of $1.5 million from the 10 House-passed spending bills. But things are very different for Democrats, who for the first time in years are funding with ease projects that they had to fight for under GOP control. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, for example, secured a total of $14 million – including $3 million for Cedars Sinai Medical Center. For his part, Berman obtained $10.4 million, including money for the San Fernando Valley Family Center; and Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, brought in $9 million, including money for gang prevention in Van Nuys and the Jewish Home for the Aging in Reseda. And few have discovered the privileges of membership in the House Appropriations Committee as much as Schiff. In his first year on the funding panel, the Pasadena congressman brought home $9.7 million for projects in his district and helped secure another $1.9 million with other lawmakers for regional programs. They range from $1 million for California’s gang-reduction program to $350,000 for Glendale Adventist Medical Center for facilities and equipment. Some, he said, are projects that for years he was unable to fund while the House was under GOP control. “It’s nice to be able to help them,” he said. Not every Democrat is awash in funding, however. According to Taxpayers for Common Sense, Rep. Hilda Solis, D-El Monte, brought in about $1.6 million from solo requests for funding and another $2.4 million from joint requests with other lawmakers. Similarly, Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-Santa Fe Springs, secured $1.6 million for her district and another $5.7 million in joint projects. Steven Ellis, vice president of the taxpayer group, said that’s because – despite GOP contentions of vastly overstuffed spending bills – Democrats actually are funding slightly fewer pet projects. “There are fewer earmarks,” Ellis said. “I’m not na ve enough to think that everything was going to change overnight. “It’s really easy to pack on the pounds, but now it’s time to work out and cut some calories and cut some fat.” The Southland lawmaker who most breaks the mold is Lewis, who secured about $126 million for local projects – more than even House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who secured a total of $81 million for California. “That’s not right. You had better check your information,” Lewis said, when asked how he, now in the minority party and no longer chairman of the powerful spending committee, managed to secure so much. Yet a close examination of the earmarks – which for the first time now under House rules must be made public along with the lawmaker requesting the money – shows that Lewis is indeed the Southland’s big moneymaker. Not only did he bring in more than Pelosi, he is among the top three pork-bearers in the entire House. Only Rep. Jack Murtha, D-Pa., and Bill Young, R-Fla., brought home more money.160Want local news?Sign up for the Localist and stay informed Something went wrong. Please try again.subscribeCongratulations! You’re all set! read more