Trichinosis

A politician (I can't remember whom, so don't ask) once said, "I'm carrying so much pork I've got trichinosis." He wasn't talking about ham sandwiches. But that's why the title is titled what the title is titled.

Nowadays, everyone seems to be opposed to earmarks, or pork barrel spending, or what have you. They accuse politicians of corruption and waste for spending money on things in their home districts for the purpose of spending money on things in their home districts. Government spending should be national, should be for government programs that matter, so saying the sages. The elimination of such spending is supposed to eliminate government waste, reduce the effects of lobbyists, and make our country a wonderful and super place.

What a load of crap. I'm as anti-government waste as the next voter, but if you take a good, hard look at governmental spending, you'll find that so-called pork is not the problem at all. Lobbyists, for the most part, don't want pork anyway, unless you count the voters as a lobby. Lobbyists want exceptions to laws, loopholes in tax codes, governmental protection, and all that jazz. The corruption issues with lobbyists that involve money are usually straight up bribes, which aren't pork, they're just illegal.

Sure, building a bridge to nowhere in Alaska (the favorite example, which is a huge cliché) is wasteful. But building a bridge to somewhere isn't, and that's what a lot of pork does: highways. There is a tremendous amount of pork allocated to various highways and road constructions in various areas. Are we to call the construction of roads wasteful? What about the money given to poorer areas to build museums, schools, libraries, etc. Is this wasteful?

Some earmarks are indeed wasteful, and the whole system should perhaps have slightly more oversight, but to do away with pork barrel is foolish. I did not elect my representatives in Congress (both House and Senate) because I wanted them to represent the country as a whole. The entire government does that. I wanted them to represent my concerns, and to make sure that government money is spent wisely. And a good way to spend government money wisely is by spending it improving the lives of taxpayers, of which I am one. So when my congresspeople bring home the pork, that seems like a good way to spend money to me.

If the entire government spends less money on everything (Defence, I'm looking sharply in your direction) then it will spend less money on pork for my state and yours (unless you don't live in the United States, in which case you should probably talk to your ambassador about securing some foreign aid, so you too can partake in the hemorrhage of money that is the Federal Government of the USA), and perhaps that would be a good thing. It would be a good thing largely because the government spends too much money on many things. But as long as it's spending, why shouldn't taxpayers receive a piece of the pie? That's not corruption. That's why we elect them.