Just a few days after Paul Jacob mentioned our scholar R.W. Hafer’s op-ed about St. Louis traffic and bridge construction in both his Common Sense radio commentary and Townhall column, Paul has mentioned the Show-Me Institute again in Common Sense — this time quoting a blog entry I wrote last month about Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill’s fight to reform the congressional earmark process:

Time will tell whether McCaskill sticks to her guns. But McCaskill has supported Republican Senator Jim DeMint’s new push to ensure that earmark requests be transparent, revealing the name of the sponsor and exactly where the money is going. Early moves toward such transparency in the new senate have stalled.

Eric Dixon, an editor at Missouri’s Show-Me Institute, says "We should congratulate McCaskill for sticking to her principles in her fight against congressional earmarks." I agree. I’m cautiously optimistic. Very cautiously, though. Show me!

I made much the same sort of qualification in a blog entry earlier this month. The real measure of a fight for reform is how well it holds up in the long run. Hopefully, McCaskill will stick to her guns.