[sinanju]

This is a great, great article. When it came to pork-barreling, I always instinctively knew that federal largesse could never substitute for a viable local economy but I didn’t know enough to put it into words.

[GeronL]

bump

[SWAMPSNIPER]

Wealth is only created when you increase the value of materials or effort. Mine some ore, make some steel, use the steel to make a car. Plant a seed, sell tomatos, you’ve created wealth. Most of the pork is good for visual effect only.

[org.whodat]

Bird was doing this all over the state of West Virginia, he just about had Hwy 19 turned into an interstate, he spend billions on that road. But the West Virgina toll road is the roughest damn road you have ever driven on, on second thought, they run a tie with parts of New Jersey and New York, and they charge you to beat you to death.