Free Money

From Sen. Collins' eNewsletter:

U.S. Senator Susan Collins, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced her support for a bipartisan proposal to limit federal discretionary spending for Fiscal Year 2011.

[...]

"I have joined my Republican colleagues...in supporting...[t]his bipartisan proposal...because it essentially freezes...discretionary spending at last year's levels.

Seven paragraphs later:

Collins...announced that the [Appropriations] [C]ommittee has approved her request for $17.2 million for the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery. This funding is included in the Fiscal Year 2011 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs spending bill.

Ironic? Self-negating? Totally contradictory?

Not at all. The above ellipses hide the fact that the proposed spending freeze covers non-defense discretionary spending only.

Because when the government spends money on defense, it doesn't actually cost anything.