Pork-barrel politics

There is some trouble with the bill that is slowly moving forward to fund our forces, and call for an end to the Iraqi campaign.

One that President Bush has pointed to is the pork in the bill.

But what about pork?

To President Bush, they are "pork-barrel projects completely unrelated to the war," items in the House and Senate war-spending bills such as peanut storage facilities and aid to spinach farmers that insult the seriousness of the conflict and exist only to buy votes.

But such spending has been part of Iraq funding bills since the war began, sometimes inserted by the president himself, sometimes added by lawmakers with bipartisan aplomb. A few of the items may have weighed on the votes for spending bills that have now topped half a trillion dollars, but, in almost all cases over the past four years, special-interest funding provisions have been the fruits of congressional opportunism by well-placed senators or House members grabbing what they could for their constituents on the one bill that had to be passed quickly.

This is, sadly, a way of politics and legislation. And it is just now insulting Bush. I wonder why?


The pork. I understand that is "how it works". But I am bugged.

The Iraq War. All these people got voted in and so many of them need a hand out, and one immediately? Now? On this? Is it that you are gutless? Just curious?

I am so disappointed with these people so uncommitted to dealing with and ending this war, in some way.

What do you want to do then?