Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee will retire

One of the biggest proponents of government deficit spending is leaving Congress at the end his current term. Polls show David Obey (D-Wisconsin) is in danger of losing reelection anyway, but he says his main reason for retiring is that the mood of the country will prevent him from appropriating all that government deficit spending he's so well known for. Via Politico:

Despite poor polls at home, Obey insisted he could still win reelection in November. But he admitted he feared another reapportionment fight in the next Congress and believed the nation had turned against the aggressive public investments that have been his trademark.