Cochran has lost some power/clout with the Democrats taking over the Senate but he will still swing plenty of weight as the Senior Minority Leader on the Appropriations Committee. Senator Byrd did pretty well for WV while he was in the minority, in part do to Cochran’s respect for Byrd. That kindness will likely be returned by Byrd to Cochran. Also, note that the Democrats’ control of the Senate is only by the slimmest of margins, 1.

As to your comment concerning “last minute line items,” from what I have seen and heard, that has never been Cochran’s style. You might wish to better educate yourself on the legislative process with regard as to how earmarks are included. There is nothing last minute about the vast majority of them, particularly those that are directed toward universities. Most companies and universities are busy now working with their congressional delegations concerning earmarks, and other directed funding projects, for the FY 2008 budget and congress has yet to pass the FY 2007, not a "last minute" effort if you ask me. Note that the congressional offices have a formal process for making these request.

There is also likely to be little if any change in the federal agencies regard for Cochran. In addition, Lott is likely to benefit from the Democrats taking control of the Senate. If Lott is made the Whip for the Republicans in the Senate, Mississippi’s Senator’s will still be a powerful force. And, based on the votes in this election and in the last presidential election, there is likely a 50-50 chance of the Senate swinging back under the control of the Republicans in 2008, in which case Cochran would likely be back as the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee. With all this said, I doubt we will see a “nose dive” in USM’s R&D funding and with Shelby on the way out I would not describe the future as “bleak” for his successor or the University.

I will end this by asking a question about your last comment, “Pity we sacrificed the programs that were worth something on the way to this cooked up number.” I am not aware of any programs having to be “sacrificed” in order to obtain any earmark funding or other R&D funding. If you are aware of such, would you please elaborate?

qwerty wrote:

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The NYT is reporting that Lott has been elected senate minority leader.

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asdf wrote:

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Mitch McConnell of Kentucky will be the minority leader and Lott is the new whip.  Lott won over Lamar Alexander for the job.

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