The Golden Nematode

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

Never has the adage that pork is spending that happens in another senator’s state been more apt than with the news from Washington that Senators Clinton and Schumer have secured preliminary approval for $50,000 in federal spending to fight the golden nematode. In case you were unaware of the golden nematode menace, a press release yesterday from the senators helpfully explains, “the golden nematode, when uncontrolled, can reduce potato crop yields by up to 80 percent. Currently, this tiny worm only attacks potato crops located in NY State and the golden nematode quarantine program only exists in NY State.”

All of which might suggest that fighting said nematode might well be a state, not federal, responsibility, and that New Yorkers need not fear a great famine. Should the nematode go on the rampage, we can always import potatoes from Idaho, Maine, or Ireland, which long since conquered the Great Potato Famine. It turns out that the federal nematode money is an earmark for Cornell University, which is to say, it would avoid the usual process of competitive bidding and prioritizing that applies to the rest of federal agriculture spending.

We’ve got nothing against Cornell. Nor, despite the obstacle the spelling of potatoes posed to Vice President Quayle, who was one of the best things about the first Bush administration, do we have anything against potatoes, particularly when they are made into French fries. We don’t even have much of a gripe with Senators Schumer or Clinton on this project – one can argue that if the senators from other states are going to be earmarking grants for ridiculous pork barrel projects, New York might as well get its share.

The worm in the spud, though, is that Senator Clinton is running around the country criticizing Republicans for a lack of spending discipline. Mrs. Clinton’s campaign Web site claims, “A strong voice for fiscal responsibility, Senator Clinton has spoken out consistently against the Bush Administration’s reckless policies of piling mountains of debt on our children and grandchildren.” Senator Clinton’s golden nematode project is trying to pile another $50,000 onto that mountain of debt and there’s no reason for the rest of the country, which is swamped with potatoes, to be paying for it.


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