Economic Stimulus: $787B. Pork Related Puns: Priceless

Chapter 27!

So many people are bothered by the porky smell emanating from this year's Economic Stimulus Package. Unfortunately, earmarks are nothing new; ask Clinton. In 1998, he signed a bill that stank high to the pork heavens. It obviously caused a stir, as there was anger amongstF" both the Democrats and Republicans at the same time. You don't tend to find them agreeing on many things, so this was obviously saying something. Regarding the 2009 stimulus, the reactions are different. Conservatives are wary of the consequences that can come from spending this sort of money on unneeded things, but Democrats seem to support it overall. Though normalcy was restored, there is little other to sigh in relief about. Clinton may have been right in the 90s, of course. He did state that "on the balance, [this bill] honors our values and strengthens our country and looks to the future."(1) So restoring a German submarine is honoring our country's values? Interesting. Unfortunately, that's nothing compared to what is being tacked on to 2009's stimulus. If you think restoring German submarines is silly, wait until you find out that "in Obama's $787 billion stimulus bill there was plenty of money for a magnetic levitation train between Disneyland and Las Vegas"(2). Obviously things have gone downhill (and not in a happy Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah way) and there doesn't seem to be any hope for us. If things are really worse than they were when money was going to "Russians [who] can [...] buy frozen chickens from Mississippi"(1) then the US is probably in trouble. Just in Connecticut there are silly things such as "The dilapidated Capewell horse nail factory; a key lynch pin for development in the area around Colt Park". (3) That's one pointless thing that's happening in one of the smallest states of the nation. What other trouble is the US in for?

Chapter 28!

Alas, it is humorous that everyone goes and backtracks on their bashing of earmarks to shyly mention how important that they can be. But it seems that earmarks seem to be given way too bad of a name for themselves. Yes there is a lot of money going to seemingly anonymous sources, but are these causes more worthy than not? Trying to browse through listed earmarks, it is more difficult to find outlandish things that have been tacked onto a bill. It makes one's eyes dry to search for that one weird earmark throughout all of the shockingly helpful investments. For instance, a randomly chosen area being funded by the '09 Stimulus can be represented by "Install[ing] new sidewalks and drainage on Curtis Street [in Meriden, CT]" (4). Though everyone pays attention to the more pointless ideas such as "The renovation of historic City Hall [in Waterbury, CT]"(5), they shouldn't forget the residents of Curtis Street who would most likely agree that they are in desperate need of drainage. Have you ever encountered bad drainage issues? It's really not pretty. The less urgent matters such as City Hall renovations to update the look can obviously wait, and shouldn't be thrust into the spotlight over the more important issues. Unfortunately, people will always focus on the negatives that come from earmarks. People knock Ted Shuster for his support of pork barreling, but has anyone ever thought that he was actually trying to do some good? Now, if anyone could figure out a plausible way to weed out the important investments from poor ones, that would be something. Maybe everyone could stop viciously attacking earmarks only to timidly defend them later on. That action alone proves that they aren't useless, so the US should improve their system instead of complaining.

Sources:

1--The Enduring Debate Classic and Contemporary Readings in American Politics, Fourth Edition. New York: W. W. Norton, 2005. 162, 164.

2--http://www.suntimes.com/news/otherviews/1477075,CST-EDT-simon15.article

3--http://www.stimuluswatch.org/project/by_city/Hartford/CT

4--http://www.stimuluswatch.org/project/by_city/Meriden/CT

5--http://www.stimuluswatch.org/project/by_city/Waterbury/CT