Rep. Adam Smith of Washington’s 9th Congressional District likes to portray himself as what the Seattle Times calls a “raging moderate.” Smith supported the Iraq surge in 2007 and he voted against the House’s original health care reform bill.
But Smith is the chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee on Air and Land Forces. And in this role, Smith is showing that he can play the pork barrel polka with the best Big Government liberal. But unlike earmark champions Patty Murray and the late Robert Byrd, Smith’s effort do not benefit his district at all, but rather fat cat corporate donors to his campaign.
