Pacridge
DP Veteran
RightatNYU said:I see the mentality developing this way because we're conditioned to go much easier on the politicians we like.
We decry the pork barrel spending in Congress, but every year, every Congressman runs on the platform of how many jobs he's brought to our area, how much money he got for us, etc... We're trained to be angry at waste and impropriety, but to love it when it benefits us.
Tammany Hall was responsible for some of the best loved mayors in NYC, despite the incredible corruption.
If you think about it, most of the best loved politicians are that way because of their ability to schmooze, and get what they want through methods that wouldn't necessarily be acceptable to the general public if presented.
Yep, everybody hates pork barrel spending unless the pork's going into their barrel.
Michael Moore (oh on! not that guy) used to have a TV show on, I think it was called TV Nation. One time he went to some small town and got a bunch of people to do a march against pork barrel spending. Then in the middle of the march he started telling them about the pork spending in and around their own town. The people suddenly didn’t have a problem spending millions of dollars on a recreation center. It helped their town and employed people. It was pure pork, but those people liked the pork spent on them.
Tax payers need to wise up and realize federal dollars aren’t free dollars. How many times, while watching late night TV, have you heard someone hawk a book or a program aimed at connecting you with “free government dollars or grants?” Federal dollars aren’t free-they’re our dollars. We pay for them. You and I. They’re several groups out there that keep tabs on pork spending. CAGW is one here’s link to their site: http://www.cagw.org/site/PageServer