Because who needs border defense when we can have craptastic spending on stuff like, say, $5 million to the United States Olympic Committee or $3 million to a gulf club for kids?

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, said Tuesday that Democrats had stripped from a defense spending bill a $3 billion border-security amendment that the Senate passed overwhelmingly last month.

Graham said Democrats also attached conditions to the Iraq war funding, leading all Republican senators on a conference committee to refuse to sign the panel’s report.

“I’m incredibly disappointed,” Graham said in an interview. “Congress would serve itself well if we funded border security as my amendment proposes, and it would help us move the immigration debate further down the road.”

Bryan points out that the amendment that was yanked, was actually passed by the body with a vote of 95-1 - not a slim majority. So how did it just vanish? Here’s a clue:

Aides to Democratic leaders of the Senate and the House failed Tuesday evening to return phone calls seeking comment on Graham’s claims, or said they didn’t know anything about the issues. Graham planned to hold a news conference Wednesday with other senators.

Gotta protect those potential future voters, huh?