June 29, 2010
EDITORIAL: Byrd Served West Virginia In His Own Way
Some observers in the national press have come to call the late Senator Robert C. Byrd
a throwback to another era. They cite his Klan past, his record-breaking filibuster
against the 1964 Civil Rights Bill, and his folksy sayings.
But Byrd really belongs even more to a less distant past than early 20th Century race relations. The real legacy of his work has more to do with being part of a growing federal government that had a tremendous amount of taxpayers' money to play with: not just on needed road building or sewage projects but also funding projects heretofore left to private foundations or local government entities.
And Byrd played this post World War II federal government game as well as anybody, oftentimes to the betterment of his home state, sometimes just because he could.
But it's hard to find a West Virginian in either major party who didn't like the federal grants given to a local project or a college or university with Byrd's name on it. Such multi-million dollar grants did not come simply due to Byrd's lengthy tenure in office. Seniority, while necessary in the U.S. Senate to achieve such largesse for one's state, was only half of the battle.
Byrd had to know how to know procedural rules when necessary and how to wheel and deal, trading a vote with another Senator to get his vote later for a West Virginia project. That's politics, always has been, probably always will be. All that will change is how big the collective pot is.
Today, with record deficits a high priority on taxpayers' minds, the pot is much more empty for the next generation of Robert Byrds in the U.S. Senate. While Byrd served during 50 of the fattest years this nation will ever see, the colleagues he leaves behind will not have nearly as much pork to distribute to their constituents.
While this may pinch those who grew accustomed to federal funding for everything under the sun (we humorously recall even the "Robert C. Byrd Sidewalk," a bricklaid affair in Charleston), on the other hand, it's good that our elected leaders in Washington and Charleston will now have to earn re-election more on the content of their character and votes, rather than the amount of federal grants they can bring home.
Byrd's passing is truly a symbol that we are passing into a new, perplexing, but promising age, one that relies far more on the private and non-profit sectors than the government sector. Surely the continual flow of oil into the Gul of Mexico from BP's uncapped well has demonstrated the limits of government effectiveness.
But for his era, Senator Byrd served West Virginia in his own way and was a superstar on the national scene for decades. May he rest in peace, hopefully having finally reconciled himself to not only the Constitution he so revered, but also to the Declaration of Independence, which states most clearly that all men are created equal.
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EDITORIAL: Byrd Served West Virginia In His Own Way
Some observers in the national press have come to call the late Senator Robert C. Byrd
a throwback to another era. They cite his Klan past, his record-breaking filibuster
against the 1964 Civil Rights Bill, and his folksy sayings.
But Byrd really belongs even more to a less distant past than early 20th Century race relations. The real legacy of his work has more to do with being part of a growing federal government that had a tremendous amount of taxpayers' money to play with: not just on needed road building or sewage projects but also funding projects heretofore left to private foundations or local government entities.
And Byrd played this post World War II federal government game as well as anybody, oftentimes to the betterment of his home state, sometimes just because he could.
But it's hard to find a West Virginian in either major party who didn't like the federal grants given to a local project or a college or university with Byrd's name on it. Such multi-million dollar grants did not come simply due to Byrd's lengthy tenure in office. Seniority, while necessary in the U.S. Senate to achieve such largesse for one's state, was only half of the battle.
Byrd had to know how to know procedural rules when necessary and how to wheel and deal, trading a vote with another Senator to get his vote later for a West Virginia project. That's politics, always has been, probably always will be. All that will change is how big the collective pot is.
Today, with record deficits a high priority on taxpayers' minds, the pot is much more empty for the next generation of Robert Byrds in the U.S. Senate. While Byrd served during 50 of the fattest years this nation will ever see, the colleagues he leaves behind will not have nearly as much pork to distribute to their constituents.
While this may pinch those who grew accustomed to federal funding for everything under the sun (we humorously recall even the "Robert C. Byrd Sidewalk," a bricklaid affair in Charleston), on the other hand, it's good that our elected leaders in Washington and Charleston will now have to earn re-election more on the content of their character and votes, rather than the amount of federal grants they can bring home.
Byrd's passing is truly a symbol that we are passing into a new, perplexing, but promising age, one that relies far more on the private and non-profit sectors than the government sector. Surely the continual flow of oil into the Gul of Mexico from BP's uncapped well has demonstrated the limits of government effectiveness.
But for his era, Senator Byrd served West Virginia in his own way and was a superstar on the national scene for decades. May he rest in peace, hopefully having finally reconciled himself to not only the Constitution he so revered, but also to the Declaration of Independence, which states most clearly that all men are created equal.
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