Pork Barreling Essay - 787 Words

Pork barrel legislations is a daily occurrence in American government. Howard Scarrow showcases this in his May 6th column in The Village Times Herald, Our bacon, their park. His example of the recently proposed highway bill is a blatant exposure of pork barrel legislation. He indicates many causes of this distributive politics that would lead to legislation such as the highway bill. Pork barrel legislation allows for a congressman to appeal to his constituents by adding on seemingly small projects that would benefit his district, to a larger bill. This small portion of the legislation is usually overlooked and passed along with the main part of the bill. In a way distributive politics is a sneaky way for congressmen to bring home†¦show more content†¦Pork barrel legislation is a way for congressmen to show their voters what great projects they can get funded and use those programs to get reelected. Distributive politics has flourished in American government because of legislative processes in Congress. Pet projects like those in the highway bill are possible in American government. James Madison said that America did not need to worry about factions because in such a large country there would be so many factions that they would cancel each other out. What Madison did not anticipate was that these factions would work together to further their own agendas. A sort of Ill vote for your part of the bill if you vote for mine. Passing legislation is such a long and complicated process that can be simplified if the bill just passes. So if every congressmen has a part of the bill that benefits his district, the bill will be easier to pass. Committees are put together so that the work in congress can be split up. This results in many bills being passed strictly based on pork barrel issues. No one opposes anything because to rework a bill is too much work. And why vote down a b ill when your district will benefit from it being passed. The consequences of federal pork barreling are todays public opinions of Congress. Voters express a sixty percent approval rating of their own personal representatives. However, voters opinion of Congress as aShow MoreRelated Mr. Smith Goes to Washington Essays902 Words   |  4 PagesHowever, in todays legislature, people like Mr. Smith are rare due to the fact that a politicians primary goal is re-election. The good of the people may come as another intention of a politician, but it is always secondary to bringing home the pork. There should be more people like Mr. Smith because the legislature would be able to make decisions more effectively and efficiently, rather than how slowly they currently operate. This is an unfortunate truth, yet it is how our society has been shapedRead MoreCongressmen See The Incumbency Advantage As A Blessing1105 Words   |  5 Pagesthis makes the representative less responsive to his constituents (Friedman 69). The incumbency advantage is disastr ous to the democratic system and as a result there are not enough competitive seats in congress, an extensive amount of irrelevant pork barreling added to bills, and the XXII amendment unjustifiably does not apply to congressmen. Once a candidate has been elected as a congressman, the chances of reelection become easier each term. This roots from gaining name recognition in an incumbentRead MoreEcon634 Words   |  3 Pagesgovernment * all of the above Question 7: ___________  is when the Federal government shares revenue with state, local, and other governmental units for poverty, health, and highway programs. * Tax Rebates * Bringing Home the Bacon * Pork Barreling * Fiscal Federalism Question 8: Government would generally choose to __________ the existence of competition in a capitalistic society. * promote * slow down * destroy * all the above Question 9: Public goods are availableRead MoreHow Does A Bill Become A Law Within The Us Political System?869 Words   |  4 PagesHouse and Senate have agreed to pass the bill it comes down to congress now and congress is like have having peas and mashed potatoes touching, they don t get along there most of the time. Lets say the bill passes through all the logrolling and pork barreling by that I mean through lots of deals and negotiations to seem to fit to everyones liking. Congress has now agreed on this bill to be made into a law! Congratulations we finally made it this far or did we? Of course its not over yet, a new challangerRead MoreThe Battle Of The Spanish American War1352 Words   |  6 Pagesfinancial matters practically lay in their hands. When the Philippine Commission wanted to carry out plans pertaining to infrastructural developments, they had to go through the Elitists. With these transactions, the Philippine commission would be pork-barreling political bills and affairs in exchange for financial settlements for the sake of continuing the spin of development. America was bargaining and doling out favors with the same people they wanted to politically educate. Of course, one thing theRead MoreThe Current Political Machine For House Incumbents1480 Words   |  6 Pageshave the knowledge to take advantage of the system selfishly. Furthermore, politicians then become more wary and skeptical of interest groups and lobbyists trying to sway their opinion (Balanced Politics). The use of dishonorable tactics such as, pork-barreling, have had powerful electoral effects and has become one of the primary causes of decreasing respect for and satisfaction with Congress. Term limits would slow and possibly reverse the decline of congressional legitimacy, ensuring that CongressRead MorePushing a Wet Noodle2247 Words   |  9 PagesHealthcare forward as much as possible, while other members were trying to hold it back. C.) In my role I acted as mostly a delegate, trying to keep my constituents happy while trying to move Healthcare forward as much as possible while being a pork barrel bringin home the bacon. Since my position is in the House, it was harder for me to act as a delegate. Being given a lot of money from other trial lawyers, I voted to make them happy and push things in their direction as much as possibleRead MoreWill the Environment Heal Itself? Essays2418 Words   |  10 PagesFeeding and supplying this population explosion are placing huge demands on the environment. And this brings us to the other, opposing trend: the environments resources are either reaching their limit or shrinking. The result will be like two trains barreling towards each other on the same railroad track. Biologists, historians and economists all concur that whenever growing populations have met shrinking resources, the results have been pitched competition for survival. This is why the above chart seesRead MoreThe Family Entertainment And Copyright Act3758 Words   |  16 Pagesa government failure is when a response to a market failure in order but the government only succeeds further creating an inefficiency or adding new problems. As an overview, some impacts of government failure include crowding out, logrolling, pork barreling, and even ration al ignorance. Some social consequences would comprise of institutional change, and the politicization of social and economic norms. My policy on the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act 2005 (S.167) was enacted due to a governmentRead MoreManagerial and Organizational Behavior - Office Space: A Case Study4866 Words   |  20 Pagesby Francesca Gino and Max Bazerman Ethical misconduct is frequently so insidious that it escapes notice until the damage is done (Pomeroy, 2007). The other symptoms include gridlock, brown-nosing, the two-faced two-step, passing the buck, and pork-barreling (Sujansky, 2007). Initech is representative of a political organization, and I have found that many corporate organizations are also guilty of this type of atmosphere. Peter Gibbons character in Office Space is criticized on miniscule tasks