HOPE AND CHANGE: A.P.: Obama beats early retreat on promise to fight pork. “Despite campaign promises to take a machete to lawmakers’ pet projects, President Barack Obama is quietly caving to funding nearly 8,000 of them this year, drawing a stern rebuke Monday from his Republican challenger in last fall’s election.”

And this Bush comparison has got to hurt:

“I’m here to tell everyone that we have an obligation as members of Congress to help direct spending to our states,” Reid told reporters last week.

That’s the kind of treatment President George W. Bush got from his allies in Congress after he took office eight years ago. Like Obama, he wanted to curb lawmakers’ appetite for pet projects, but he also was firmly rebuffed.

Ouch.