What Is Pork Barrel Spending?
The phrase that never goes away in politics, especially during election years, is the promise to end “pork barrel politics” and to stop all “pork barrel” projects from being passed. Basically, when you hear the term “pork barrel spending” in a U.S. political setting, it refers to the piling on of unrelated expenses to a bill for the benefit of a politician’s cause, however ridiculous it might be.
A fictional example: a large defense budget bill is about to be submitted for approval, so Congressman Joe Blow adds a request to the bill for a $1 million funding of his boyhood town’s rec center. Senator Jane Doe doesn’t question it because she already put in a request for $2 million of aid for all Clevelanders suffering from sunlight deficiency syndrome. The bill gets passed because most of it is about the defense budget, and suddenly grade school kids are playing pick up games in official NBA attire while people unhappy about the cloudiness in Ohio are smiling because they received money to buy a new Wii, all on your dime.
Just as interesting to note is the origin of the “pork barrel” phrase. It’s interesting because no one can really pin down the exact origin or reason for it. Read the links below, but no one gives a FACTUAL basis for the phrase’s origin. The best answer I could find comes from Answers.com which documents the usage as early as 1909, quoting a phrase from an article implying that the representatives in government are taking what they want “out of the congressional ‘pork barrel.’” (Source: Answers.com)
Whether the origin comes from the Civil War, the awarding of pork barrels to slaves, or the association of pork as a symbol of riches (??), the CURRENT meaning of “pork barrel politics” implies the unnecessary funding of projects heaped onto taxpayers at the whim of a politician’s personal agenda.
Read on:
WikiAnswers.com – Where did the Pork-Barrel Project come from?
Martha Brockenbrough from MSN Encarta
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