"At a time when the American taxpayer is on the hook for trillions in current and future federal spending -- when the Congressional Budget Office warns that the current rate of federal spending is 'unsustainable' -- liberal Democrats in Congress have earmarked over $68 million of taxpayer dollars for a Boston shrine to the late Senator Edward Kennedy. In a detailed report, the Boston Herald describes the planned Edward M. Kennedy Institute as a 'temple for Ted Kennedy built with pork.' According to their account, congressional Democrats -- especially ... John Kerry and Edward Markey -- have been cramming earmarks for the project into various government funding bills. The Herald found that Kerry and Markey even intend to siphon $28.9 million of the institute's funding from the Defense Department budget, with almost $19 million of that amount already signed into law. ... I believe that establishing Teddy's Temple with millions of taxpayer dollars is meant to serve twin purposes. First, it is intended to enshrine the pretense that one's politics is more important than any other aspect of one's personal character. ... Second, Teddy's Temple is a means to an even broader end. That end is to elevate his liberal ideology to the status of an official, government-approved 'ideal.' You can be sure that the 'good citizenship' propagated at his shrine will translate into speeches, writings, video clips, totems, classes, and materials extolling his liberalism generally, and his advocacy of socialized medicine specifically -- all paid for with your hard-earned dollars." --columnist Robert Bidinotto