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Ohio Representative Ralph Regula’s retirement announcement raised hope in some quarters [all right, here anyway] that the gifts he showered upon his wife’s “National First Ladies Library” might cease. But the New York Times reports the old warhorse is going out with a bang, asking for a $130,000 earmark for the library. Because after all,

“Members of Congress are infinitely more familiar with the needs and priorities of their communities than unelected, federal bureaucrats in Washington and should be allowed to direct funding to important local initiatives.”

On the other hand, maybe the Library’s Laura Bush mask makes it all worthwhile

Representative Regula also serves America by leading the fight to keep the name of Canton Ohio’s own President McKinley on a mountain in Alaska, despite what Alaska thinks about it.