Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) is promising an amendment to a spending bill that will use the $220 million originally allocated for building the infamous “Bridge to Nowhere” for Katrina-related rebuilding projects:

I plan to offer an amendment to H.R. 3058, the Treasury, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill, that would transfer funding from a wasteful pork project in Alaska to the much-needed repair and reconstruction of the “Twin Spans” bridge in Louisiana.

The Club for Growth is promoting the amendment with a Key Vote Alert:

According to published reports, the Alaskan pork project costs $220 million for a 5.9-mile bridge connecting Gravina Island (population 50) to the Alaskan mainland. The cost of the bridge alone would be enough to buy every island resident his own personal Lear jet.

Instapundit thinks it’s a good idea:

PORKBUSTERS UPDATE: The more I think about it, the more I think that the Coburn Amendment is a big deal. It’s setting the precedent whereby members of Congress go after each other’s taxpayer-shafting pork projects rather than turning a blind eye and engaging in logrolling.

More details at RedState.org who says that the Coburn Amendment is A Hill to Die On:

Make NO mistake – the establishment Republicans are terrified of this bill. The chutzpah of the little people demanding an end to one of the most immoral acts of Congress – earmarked pork spending – has got some in quite the tizzy.

Word is that some are trying to stop the Coburn Amendment from even reaching the floor for a vote.

Hat tip to Power Line, who says:

The Coburn Amendment may prove to be a historic rallying point for the forces of limited government and fiscal sanity. Then again, it may not. But it’s a good place to start. …

If there is to be a war, why not let it begin here? Write your Congressman.

As the citizen outcry grows, somewhere in heaven Reagan is smiling. Get this started by writing your Senator. Now.