What does the term "pork barrell" mean?

Question

hurry

Answer 1

It refers to projects that only benefit a local politicians district.

Answer 2

Pork Barrell projects are large construction from federal funding that creates jobs in a state. They are attached to bills so that politicians can take credit for them and use these projects to help them get reelected. They are standard fair in American politics and have existed for hundreds of years.

The New Deal saw the most of these as a way out of the Depression.

Examples of Pork Barrell would be:

highways
military bases
a hydroelectric dam
sports stadiums
libraries, schools, state universities
anti-terror programs

These are different from new manufacturing plants set up by corporations because pork barrell projects are created exclusively with federal funds.

Answer 3

Money appropriated by legislators for projects in their districts to do nothing more than buy votes. Pork barrel projects are by definition useless. They are approved because Senator A knows that if he votes for some pork for Senator B, Senator B will vote to approve his. This is a clear indication of how low our Govt. has sunk, and how little control the average citizen has over it. God Bless America, yes, but not its government.

Answer 4

Very simple/ Find a Bill the president HAS to sign then put all your wish list on to it.BOTH parties do this so they can say to the people at home " look what I did for you" Somethings are real silly like money to study the mating habits of the Southern Woodcock. Things like that are pork barrell.Razeumrig ; How is Sen. Byrd's highway to no were coming . I hope it does better the Kennedy's Folly big dig tunnel in Boston Did. $4,000,000,000 over runs.//

Answer 5

"...Figuratively it is a supply of money that is provided for various supplicants who ask for it. In US politics, it is a derogatory term decribing gov't spending that is intended to benefit constituents of a politician in return for their political support, either in the form of campaign contributions or votes. The term is thought to have orig. on Southern plantations, where slaves were allocated the unwanted remainder of slaughtered pigs, or the "pork barrel." It typically involves funding for gov't prog. whose economic or service benefits are concentrated in a particular area but whose costs are spread among all taxpayers. Public works projects and agricultural subsidies are the most commonly cited examples, but they do not exhaust the possiblilties. Pork barrel spending is often alocated through last minute additions to appropriation bills."

Answer 6

In United States politics, a pork barrel (or pork barrel politics) is a derogatory term describing government spending that is intended to benefit constituents of a politician in return for their political support, either in the form of campaign contributions or votes. The term is thought to have originated on Southern plantations, where slaves were allocated the unwanted remainder of slaughtered pigs, or the "pork barrel". Typically it involves funding for government programs whose economic or service benefits are concentrated in a particular area but whose costs are spread among all taxpayers. Public works projects and agricultural subsidies are the most commonly cited examples, but they do not exhaust the possibilities. Pork barrel spending is often allocated through last-minute additions to appropriation bills.

One of the earliest examples of pork barrel politics in the United States was the Bonus Bill of 1817, which was introduced by John C. Calhoun to construct highways linking the East and South of the United States to its Western frontier using the earnings bonus from the Second Bank of the United States. Calhoun argued for it using general welfare and post roads clauses of the United States Constitution. Although he approved of the economic development goal, President James Madison vetoed the bill as unconstitutional. Since then, however, U.S. presidents have seen the political advantage of pork barrel politics. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the first appearance of the term in print as 1909, in the Westminster Gazette:

"The Democratic Party…has periodically inveighed against the extravagance of the present administration, but its representatives in the Legislature have exercised no critical surveillance over their appropriations. They have preferred to take for their own constituencies whatever could be got out of the Congressional 'pork barrel'."
One of the most famous (or infamous) pork-barrel projects was the Big Dig in Boston, Massachusetts. The Big Dig was a project to take a pre-existing 3.5 mile interstate highway and relocate it underground. It ended up costing $14.6 billion or over $4 billion per mile.[1]

Pork barrel projects or earmarks are added to the federal budget by members of the appropriation committees of Congress. This allows delivery of federal funds to the local district or state of the appropriation committee member, often accommodating major campaign contributors. To a certain extent a congressman or congresswoman is judged by their ability to deliver funds to their constituents. The Chairman and the ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations are in a position to deliver significant benefits to their states. Likewise a Representative such as Anne M. Northup (R-Ky.), a Republican first elected in 1997 from the previously Democratic 3rd Congressional district (Louisville, Kentucky), was able to deliver significant financial benefits to her district through her appointment as a freshman member to the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations.

Answer 7

All the extra crap they attach to let's say transportation bills that have nothing to do with transportation. I apologize to the American people for living in the pork capitol, West Virginia and yes I will be voting for Byrd's republican opponent, me and the 23 other republicans in this state.

Answer 8

Politicians getting big financial grants for development in their own area. The projects they are raising money for are not always beneficial, and often only benefit the pol's own supporters and friends.

Check the history of Louisiana politics.

Answer 9

money for politicians pet project