Pork is worth talking about not because it is our government’s biggest expenditure, but because pork is the hardest to justify. And yet Congress revels in it. And too many American citizens are ambivalent. One online reader challanged me on this the other day: “When do congressman get to ask for money for necessities for their respect[ive] states?

We, their constituents, would expect them to bring back some of our money to our state. . . . When do you call it PORK and when do you not call it PORK?” Good question. Here’s a simple answer. It’s pork if the benefits of the project are chiefly local, and thus most justifiable if funded locally. A museum, a bicycle path, a metropolitan transit system these are all local projects, just as are prisons, courts, and your local constabulary. And yet, in America right now, politicians pretend it makes sense to take money from taxpayers, siphon it through the sieve that is Washington D.C., and then funnel it back in dribs and drabs in the form of grants for local projects.

This is not efficient. And it corrupts the process of deciding how to spend money on legitimate federal projects, like where to put military bases. Instead of “bring[ing] money back to our state,” citizens should insist that the money not leave the state in the first place. Demand that your representatives stop the con game of high taxes and pork-fest benefits. And hold your local politicians responsible for truly local problems.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.