Trent Lott Spills the Beans

(H/T: Mark Tapscott, Editorial Page Editor for The Washington Examiner)

The Tuscaloosa News, just posted an article based on a recent speech Trent Lott gave at the local Lincoln-Reagan Dinner. During the speech, Lott said he knew in his heart earmarks were wrong. He also acknowledge that Republicans, who feasted on the orgy of congressional pork, are now paying the price.

Here are the key paragraphs:

Lott was known as one of the "Princes of Pork" while he was in Congress for his ability to bring home the bacon to Mississippi and he said that also caused some friction with McCain.

"John used to harass me because I would get earmarks -- or pork barrel projects -- in Mississippi," he said. "And I would say, 'Well, yes, John, I'm a senator from Mississippi and we're the poorest state in the nation.'

"But we're not anymore, that pork paid off."

Then Lott made a couple of admissions I found startling.

"But you know what, in my heart I knew he was right," he said of his pork barrel ways. That's no way to do business, we shouldn't be doing all that earmarking -- it got completely out of control.

"It got out of control with Republicans and that's why we are being punished a little bit," he added. "Because we forgot how we got there, what we believed in, the principles that after 30 years put us in the majority, gave us the White House, the congress, the senate, the house. And then we ran out of ideas...

"But that was an aberration, that's not who we really are."

It is, however, an aberration from which Democrats across the nation, from the top of the ticket on down, are counting to make hay this election cycle.

Read the full article here.