Robert Byrd's Highways To Nowhere

by Brian Bolduc - July 10th, 2010 - Wall Street Journal

His heart belonged to you," President Obama told the hundreds of West Virginians who attended Robert Byrd's funeral last week. "Making life better here was his only agenda." Maybe so. But despite the $4 billion in pork that Byrd served his constituents over the past 19 years alone—not to mention the untold billions before observers started keeping tabs—West Virginia remains the third poorest state in the country. Government spending does not prosperity make.

When Byrd became senator in 1959, West Virginia ranked No. 39 in median family income, and No. 42 in per capita income. Today, it's No. 48 in both categories.

There is probably no better evidence of the consequences of government pork than the State of West Virginia under Robert Byrd. His pork created an attitude of dependency that has slowly, but surely, driven the state downhill for as long as Byrd was Senator. From 39 down to 48. What a legacy.