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;;~~~;;:~: tz ~ ~p' The pork barrel is alive and well in Congress I - - - - BUDGET deficit or no, the old ways are still apparently the only ways for Congress, Last week the House voted 214 to 176 against an amendment to force the government to auction of( elec- trical power from Hoover Dam to tile highest bidder. The estimated loss to the Treasury is $3.5 billion over 10 years. Henceforth, pOwer from Hoover will be sold as it's always been sold, at giveaway prices and through allo- C"') cations whose primary rationale is 00 tradition. While wholesale electricity ~ in the Southwest sells for as much as ~ 7 cents a kJlowaU-hour, the same 0_ _ amOunt of Hoover Dam power is sold for one-half cent. Naturally some people will benefit from the vote: 10 million consumers in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada (but not everywhere in Southern California; San Diego is left out). That's no doubt why Rep. Mor~ ris Udall, D-Ariz., sponsored the bill that retained the low rates in the first place. In so doing, however, UdaH proved again why Congress has so much trouble passing serious de!i~ cit-cutting measures: Individual members find it nearly impossible to rise above narrowly regional inter- -- - ........-- - - ---.- ~ Rocky Mountain News FOunded Apnl 23. 1859 Ralph Looney, Editor William W, Fletcher, General Manager "Give light and lhe people will fmd lheir own way" 400 W Colfax AVe., Denver, Colo. 60204 (303) B92~5000 ests and apply broad principles of frugality and fairness. Some of the same House members who voted with Udall for cheap H()().. ver power, by the way. had been railing loudly and sanctimoniously only a few months earlier against the bargain-basement sale of federal coal leases. Apparently an abuse is to be denounced only when doing so suits a political purpose; when an abuse suits a constituent purpose, it is to be applauded. Unfortunately, the Colorado dele- gation didn't acquit itself well on the issue. Only Rep. Pat Schroeder voted - I I I for the amendment. In fact, she was a CO-sponsor. Tim Wirth, Ken Kra- mer, Dan SchAefer, and Hank Brown aU Opposed competitive pricing of government electricity (Ray Kogov- sek didn't vote). Through their votes, those four men have helped ensure that the $3.5 billion in potential Jong-term savings wiU have to be made up elsewhere _ I ~ perhaps partly at the expense of their fellow Coloradans, And C()nSid~] I ering that they didn't even have a [' local stake in continuing such anti- 1 market pricing, is it any wonder that budget deficits this year may reach $185 billion? _ I