Adventures in Porkland:: How Washington Wastes Your Money and Why They Won't Stop
Describes examples of government waste, looks at how pet projects are added to appropriation bills, and suggests ways to reduce the deficit
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Like everyone else in the country, Washington journalist Brian Kelly knew that our elected representatives were inordinately fond of spending other people's money. Our money, not to put too fine a point on it. He even knew that the government was spending far more money than it was taking in. But when he heard that Congress had decided that one of the more pressing issues on the national agenda was the funding of a museum honoring television bandleader Lawrence Welk, something clicked.So began his year-long journey through the white limestone caverns where our congressmen and -women lurk. Kelly wanted to discover how government spending was ever allowed to run amok, and what, if anything, can be done to stop it. He found a reason behind the madness. That reason goes by the name of Pork. The time-honored practice of senators and representatives scrambling desperately to have choice nuggets of government largess served up to their home districts has never been more honored than it is today. Even with the deficit at well over $400 billion, despite the election of President Clinton and a whole raft of new congresspeople, the government doesn't look like it's going to go kosher any time soon. Kelly shows who's doing the taking and how, and provides sensible, intelligent solutions that should be required reading for anyone interested in our country's future.
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