Pork Barrel Politics

Everybody likes bacon. At the national level we call it pork, and it is a detestable waste of our hard-earned tax dollars when it benefits someone else’s pet projects. When it benefits us, it’s becomes a sign of effectiveness and a reason to reelect.

Representatives Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Dave Reichert have gone kosher and sworn off the pork. Which sounds admirable but also correlates to their effectiveness rating, and will likely get them less goodwill than a couple of good projects for their districts would have. On the other side, Rep. Norm Dicks won Citizens Against Government Waste’s “April Porker of the Month” for trying to get the Air Force to buy from Boeing. What nerve!

Our favorite project is the $1.6 million from Senator Patty Murray to find ways to improve the shelf life of vegetables. Now that’s leadership.

At the state level, we don’t even bother to call it bacon, it’s just the state budget.