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Earmarks again are a topic in Congress, and people in this part of Pennsylvania shouldn't condemn them.
Back in the 1970s, when highway construction was booming around the biggest population centers of the Keystone State, places like Altoona, Johnstown, Ebensburg and Bedford were told that once those projects were completed, work would begin on their roadway needs.
But as the large-scale projects around Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Erie were completed, the promises that had been made to Blair County and other smaller-population areas, didn't materialize because of alleged money shortages.
The message seemed to be: "We'll get to you sometime, but for now all promises are off the table."
The Southern Alleghenies region was angry for having been misled, but those reneging on the original promises hadn't anticipated the arrival of Congressmen Bud Shuster of Everett and John P. Murtha of Johnstown.
After winning election in the early '70s, and as their congressional seniority grew, Shuster and Murtha used their growing power on Capitol Hill to "bring home the bacon" to their districts. And, congressional earmarks -- funding directed by lawmakers to specific projects -- were what that "bacon" was all about.
Think how far behind Altoona's economy would now be if Interstate 99 -- an earmarks project of Shuster -- never would have materialized. Consider how much the Route 22 corridor economy would be suffering if that highway wouldn't have been rebuilt to modern standards.
Consider what probably would have been the defense industry's virtual non-existence in this region if Murtha hadn't brought home defense dollars by way of earmarks.
More on the highway front: Think how this region might benefit economically if a four-lane, limited-access Route 219 connection to Interstate 68 in northern Maryland finally were built. Also, think how the economy of areas east of Hollidaysburg could benefit if a modern Route 22 replaced the existing outdated roadway.
Earmarks got a bad name in part because Murtha and Shuster -- and some other lawmakers -- were so successful with the money they steered home. Earmarks came to be scorned as "pork," short for pork-barrel spending, with demands for ending them mushrooming until a ban was imposed in 2010.
However, Congress didn't comprehend the ban's full meaning -- that it had voluntarily handed over congressional spending authority to the government's executive branch, which had no problem welcoming it.
Now, finally acknowledging what occurred, some lawmakers want the ban overturned.
"It's time to take that back in a responsible way," said Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala.
Rep. Bill Shuster, who became the 9th District's representative after his father's retirement, has argued that the earmarks would be preferable to opaque executive-branch spending.
But House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has put on hold the growing push to bring them back, one of his concerns reportedly being the pledge of President-elect Donald Trump to "drain the swamp" in Washington.
However, Ryan pledged a more thorough debate and said he would allow a vote by the end of March.
Pennsylvania's 9th and 12th districts -- the 12th now is represented by Republican Keith Rothfus -- could benefit again if earmarks were revived.
The six counties of the Southern Alleghenies region -- Blair, Bedford, Cambria, Somerset, Huntingdon and Fulton -- shouldn't be reluctant to support earmarks' return, considering how much they were victims of past broken promises.