Pass the pork please. Thank you. Don’t ever forget to say thank you. It’s just good manners. Besides, you wouldn’t want to be punished the way the people of southern Arkansas were. They weren’t very appreciative of the pork they were getting.
Here’s the deal: Congressman Jay Dickey was in a tough reelection battle. He promised a mountain of pork if the voters would only send him back to Washington for yet another term. And he brought in lots of high-powered Washington politicians with tax money bulging out of their pockets to say that if Dickey were reelected the roads would indeed be paved in gold or, at least paved. But then those uppity folks in Dickey’s district didn’t reelect the incumbent as they were instructed.
My goodness, they voted instead for a term-limited state representative. That’s when $4 million federal dollars dangled before the voters were rescinded. And then the Office of Management and Budget removed proposed spending on Interstate 49. As one congressional big wig put it, “It might have been that people down there were not appreciative of the money they received.” Of course, now spending is back in for I-49. After all, there’s a tough Senate race in Arkansas next year and a little dough might provide some leverage.
We taxpayers must always remember to be grateful to our honorable and benevolent rulers for the few pennies they kindly return to us from our many tax dollars. Maybe right after Mother’s and Father’s Day, there could be a new national holiday: Politician Appreciation Day. Please pass the pork . . . and the gravy.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.