Pork or Progress?

Is pork barrel spending imperative? Some may debate that adding “pork” to a proposed bill is highly iniquitous and needless spending. However, the discussion of earmarks has also been analyzed as vital and inescapable. When concerning the newly declared stimulus package, both the positive and negative side of “pork barrel spending” has been in deliberation.

Chapter 21: Plenty of bills have been laden with lard from a wealth of tacked on pork spending. Even after President Obama declared that, “he did not allow any members of Congress to insert wasteful, last-minute earmarks in their bills to benefit special interests in their states and districts”(1) it is not a surprise that the bill still contains some hidden spending. For example, $98 million of the precious tax payers money will go to building a “polar icebreaker”. This ship will be available of the US Coast Guard in order to sail to the frozen Arctic Ocean. From what I know, cutting through a bunch of ice will not help to stimulate the economy. Also, more of a portion of our money will be going towards homeland security. Including a, “$200 million to "design and furnish" the Department of Homeland Security headquarters"(1). As you can see, much of our money is going to things that aren't even concerned in this bill. It was intended to be to stimulate the economy, but the tacked on earmarks are far from doing anything of that sort.

Chapter 22:Before bashing all pork, somethings need to be realized. The stimulus plan does have some pork spending, but could it have even been avoided? With a bill so large and spending so much money, it would be difficult to pull out all of the pork. It could be a waste to remove such things. Plus, pork, “constitutes less than one percent of the overall federal budget” (2) and if the money is going towards something productive then it could be a good thing. Also, “pork represents a very cheap way to keep our sputtering legislative process from grinding to a halt.” (3) Hence, it is the lubricant that keeps the gears of congress from deteriorating. It is needed to buy of coalition members or gain political power in your state or area.


Sources:
1)http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/economy/2009/02/19/finding-the-pork-in-the-obama-stimulus-bill.html
2)The Enduring Debate (page 124)
3) The Enduring Debate (page 135)