What Is Pork Barrel Politics?

Pork barrel politics refers the legislative practice of slipping funding for a local project into a broader budget, even when said project may have little or nothing to do with the larger bill. Often, this funding may primarily benefit the legislator's home district, serving to garner or preserve political support among constituents. 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Pork barreling can have the▨ eff𒊎ect of substantially inflating the cost of legislation.

In modern politics, pork barreling and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:earmarking may be seen as virtually synonymous. On the other hand, one c𝔉ould argue that pork barrel politics is simply a justified form of advocacy by legislators f🧜or their constituents.

Understanding Pork Barrel Politics

Pork barrel politics have been criticized for a number of reasons. For some, it raises concerns about wasteful spending. Pork barrel projects can be costly for the larger public to fund, while only benefitting a m🦂ore narrow group. It can also be se꧅en as unethical for elected officials to support projects simply to solidify political support for themselves, or to provide lucrative contracts to their allies.

Each year, the fiscally conservative nonprofit organization Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) publishes a compendium titled "The Congressional Pig Book," which documents 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:pork barrel projects in the federal budget.

CAGW defines a pork barrel project as a line item in an appropriations bill that designates 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:tax dollars for a specific purpose while circumventing established budgetary procedures. Entries in the book need to satisfyไ at least two of following seven🍨 criteria:

• The project serves a limited population or special interest.
• It did not undergo a competitive bidding process.
• It was requisitioned by only one chamber of Congress.
• It was not authorized by an individual.
• It was not proposed by the president.
• It required funding that went well beyond the president's official budget request or the prior year's funding.
• It was not subjected to any congressional hearings.

In addition to all of the above, a project or program must have appeared in prior years as an earmark in order to qualify as a🍰 pork barrel project.

Pork Barrel vs. Earmarks

Pork barrel politics is an age-old practice. Often, the less pejorative term "earmarking" can refer to a similar idea. In both cases, sums of money are inserted as line items in the federal budget, aimed at funding a specific pr💙oject.

However, the two terms are not identical. Projects that are earmarked may not be strictly local initiatives, as pork barrel projec🔥ts typically are. For example, a legislator who has—or wants—a strong base of support among educators or te🌃chnology companies might add an earmark to the budget that funds a pet project of one of those constituencies.

Pork Barrel Reform

Iಌn modern U.S. history, there have been two major at꧃tempts to limit pork barrel politics.

• The 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:2011 Bipartisan Control Act placed a moratorium on earmarks, which lasted in some form until 2018 when the Bipartisan Budget Act removed all restraints. CAGW points out that plenty of earmarks got through during the moratorium years, but their numbers jumped more than 13% after it was lifted.
• The line-item veto, every president's favorite pork-busting tool, was granted by Congress in 1995. President Bill Clinton liberally used his power to strike individual budget items, but as it turned out he would be its sole practitioner. In 1998, the line-item veto was ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. However, the line-item veto has been adopted in 44 states, allowing governors to remove earmarks from state spending bills.

The Bottom Line

Pork barrel politics refers to a practice in w🐈hich elected officials secure fu🥂nding for local infrastructure or projects that benefit their constituents, commonly in exchange for political support. These projects may be slipped into bigger bills that have little do with the local initiatives. Pork barrel projects have been criticized as wasteful. There have been attempts to reign it in, though fiscally conservative critics argue that it remains an issue.