Colbert gets all the glory while our politicians toil away

By Lisa Mascaro

Sunday, Feb. 3, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Among the long lines in Washington lately has been one to view the portrait of Stephen Colbert hanging on the wall between the doors to the men’s and women’s restrooms in the National Portrait Gallery.

There, just down the hall from Andrew Jackson, and around the corner from George and Martha Washington, is a stately painting of the mock conservative-commentator-turned-mock-presidential-candidate-turned-mock-Mike-Huckabee running mate.

The kids love it. They’re lined up two dozen deep on a Saturday, camera phones at the ready. They love the absurdity of Colbert inserting himself temporarily in the company of great men. Guards make sure no one takes cuts. They also have to direct restroom traffic around the crowd. When it’s their turn to look, the faithful snap photos and crack up.

Art can be successful at imitating life, but life is not always as artful. Consider last week in Washington. Majority Leader Harry Reid took to the Senate floor late Thursday to announce big news on his side of the Capitol: A deal had been reached to move forward with a vote on the foreign surveillance law.

An exhausted but seemingly pleased Reid read out the details of the agreement for this week’s votes, and thanked those who crafted it. Finally, an accomplishment after days of legislative logjam — but one that probably only hard-core C-SPAN viewers can appreciate.

As friends often say when I try to explain what I see happening in Washington: Tell me when they do something.

Last week was one of those in which the Congressional Record will show only a few votes, but much happened behind the scenes.

Days were spent negotiating the deal for the wiretapping bill, as well as the stimulus package to help the economy from falling into recession. Reid showed once again that he is willing to give his committee chairmen wide latitude to set the agenda, even when he does not agree. It’s a style that wins support from the ranks, but criticism from some scholars who believe he should take a firmer hold.

Out in the open, President Bush declared war on congressional earmarks — pork spending that lawmakers insert into bills for their home districts. Earmarks skyrocketed as Bush approved seven straight years of Republican-engineered spending bills. But now he wants to cut the amount of earmark spending in half.

House Republicans upped the ante by calling for a temporary earmark moratorium.

Earmarks got a dirty name as Republicans lost power in 2006 because of spending abuses, including those that landed lawmakers in jail or under investigation.

Republican Rep. Jon Porter says he supports his colleagues’ efforts to temporarily halt earmarks while a bipartisan panel investigates altering the way Washington spends taxpayer money.

But Porter still plans to ask for extras, saying his fast-growing district deserves more money because federal funding formulas for roads, schools and other needs lag behind growth.

“The earmark process helps us get projects that rightfully belong to Nevada,” Porter said last week.

“I’m still going to argue that some of these projects should be funded, because I don’t call that earmarks when we’re underfunded by the federal government.”

Reid and Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley have long stood by their earmarks.

But while Nevada’s lawmakers insist they support transparency in the earmark process to prevent the abuses of days past, they are unlikely to publicize the funds they are trying to secure until they have been successful. Porter and Ensign will not be releasing their requests; Berkley said she would consider disclosing hers if the entities asking her for the money don’t mind.

The kids love Colbert for his rich layers of irony. If only life on the Hill could be as artful.