Of all the uses for the U.S. Army in the middle of a war, rebuilding a beach in the Bronx has got to be pretty low on the list. Yet that exactly what Senators Clinton and Schumer are cheering after yesterday’s congressional override of President Bush’s veto of the Water Resources Development Act. An army Web site describes the Orchard Beach project as encompassing “beach nourishment,” and “groin rehabilitation.” The Water Resources Development Act authorizes $18.2 million for Orchard Beach, which strikes us as an awful lot of federal taxpayer money to spend on groin rehabilitation for a beach that is a city park. Why, for that price, one could buy a Caribbean island and fly Bronx beachgoers there in the winter.

It gets worse. The latest conference report for the bill includes an authorization of $25 million for “the construction and restoration of oyster beds and related shellfish habitat” off Long Island. At least Bronx beachgoers pay taxes and vote, which is more than can be said for bivalves. Too bad there’s no provision for taxpayers who don’t eat shellfish to avoid paying for this piece of pork.

The way these bills get passed is to include provisions for similar projects in congressional districts across the nation. Since New Yorkers pay more than their share of federal taxes because of the progressivity of the federal tax code, we’d be better off if the politicians in Washington would cut federal taxes and allow such projects, if necessary, to be funded locally.