At the Birth of Pork

George Rebane

Did you ever stand on the bank of a mighty river like the Missouri and contemplate its majestic and massive flow?  There it appears mighty and unstoppable in its progress to the ocean where it is swallowed up without a trace.  And then your thoughts turn to how such a behemoth starts from a hundred sources somewhere in faraway mountains. 

If you trace one of its tributaries up to the very trickle that emerges out of some crevice on a scenic mountainside, you can stay or divert that trickle with one hand.  It is these numberless trickles which unite into the mighty flow that carves the broad valleys that go on for hundreds or even thousands of miles.  And being at the start of something that big has a special feel to it, you are witnessing the birth of what will eventually become an earth changing force.

Washington DC is also at the mouth of such a mighty and unstoppable river of cash known as ‘set asides’.  This river springs from unknown sources through the working of little known forces dispersed all across the width and breadth of our land.  We also call this mighty flow of appropriated cash by its simple working name ‘pork’.  And we know that when pork passes the Potomac, it also disappears, dispersing into the ocean of local projects, uncountable, yet each one carefully fashioned or chosen to provide succor to its elected sponsor.

Standing on the steps of the Capitol, we may seek to replicate our quest for origins and ask whether we could trace the flow of pork to its very source.  This will be a harder task than tromping up some hillside following an ever narrowing creek, for we know that the headwaters of pork are also countless, unmarked, and work in quiet spurts that are hard to detect and harder to time their unannounced moments.  In plain talk, you have to be lucky to be there at the precise instant to actually witness that first little spurt, not apparent to all, that starts the flow which builds into the mighty, constant, and unstoppable flood of pork.

Well folks, yesterday afternoon I was lucky enough to bear such witness.  I may have been the only one paying enough attention to detect the little sliver of fatback that popped up right there in the middle of a town hall meeting in Grass Valley.

Let me back up.  The US Department of Agriculture has marching orders from the Administration to go around the country and see what’s required to create jobs, green ones if possible.  It is doing this by teaming up with local ag-oriented agencies and outfits to hold workgroups or town hall meetings where interested parties can attend and offer up ideas along with critiques about local job creation.  Yesterday afternoon such a meeting was held at the GV Veterans Hall.

Since I’m interested in economic development, I decided to attend.  So there I sat with equally interested Russ Steele and Gil Mathew (ERC) as we listened to a polyglot of people from different backgrounds and occupations.  All were there to see how they could be stimulated in their pocketbook, and get some sustainable enterprises going in the county.  Since I didn’t hear the word ‘profit’ pass anyone’s lips, it appeared that most of the folks were comfortable with the liberal definition of sustainable – jobs lasting as long as government money lasts.

And then it happened.  One of the worthies with a notable liberal tilt shared his irritation with our ideologically incorrect congressman.  He said it straight and simple, our man in Congress is letting his ideology get in the way of scooping up some of that pork in Washington and sending it down our way.  In his eyes it was not only wrong but reprehensible that such a thing as a person’s socio-political ideology would stand in the way of his getting in there and getting our share.  An ideology is a collection of coherent principles, and everyone knows that principles and pork don’t mix.  When it comes to pork, the motto is ‘I got mine’.  There was more to be said about that, and more would be said and done at a later time and place.  No dissent was heard from that crowd.

So there it was, one little spurt at an unexpected time and place that will now join many such others and gather into local groundswells.  These would then be communicated to the appropriate electeds or their field representatives.  And as the groundswells unite into louder petitions, they all start to wear a mantle with large letters spelling - ‘required for re-election’.  Well, you can see how such tributaries begin forming up from all the thousands of local jurisdictions, each one out to grab their own share of pork for the absolutely necessary projects that create sustainable jobs.

And to think that I was there to witness that little spurt, right at the grass roots level, and right in our town.  It all lasted about thirty seconds, and you had to pay attention or you would have missed it.  This is something to write home about and tell my kids.

(A perhaps less revelatory yet more comprehensive report on the meeting can be found on NC Media Watch.)

Comments

[M Prince]

I bet no one mentioned lower taxes as a means of creating profitable/sustainable jobs (taxpayers were all at work). Having a group of unemployed folks brainstorming how to generate jobs is futile.

[George Rebane]

You win the bet. (For further commentary on this, also see 'Ex Plures Duos' on RR)

[Duckie]

You know that WWI song, We March, We March, We March... Apparently all our government can do it REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT to no avail. We chewed that grass. It's time to spit the cud out and find new pastures. Where has our spirit-ual enterprise gone? Into remission I guess (Porkland).

As best educated, most forward thinking country in the world you'd think we'd have the most innovative form of government to be invented, perhaps i-government. Why do we all dumb-down to our lowest (greedy) levels? Where is the inspiration that created our Constitution as a guide to SELF governing?

Mark Steyn’s ‘Welcome to Rome – Commit national suicide shall we?’) sounded interesting but can't view without a password...

[Dixon Cruickshank]

Keeping on this vaimn - another boondoogle

http://www.baynews9.com/content/36/2010/1/29/575921.html?title=Obama:+'high+speed+rail+to+start+right+here+in+Tampa'

keep in mind a couple things - Tampa to Orlando is 85mi - Tampa to Disney is 68 - by the time you exit the I stste downtown and drive to the terminal(15min)-park-pay to park (10min), buy tickets (15min) and load the chill'in's on the train,this is based on the train leaving upon your entrance. You'd be at least halfway there if you kept going out I-4 - and instead of $10 for gas you get pay to park and buy a ticket for $10 to $30 and figure out how to get where you wanted to go, taxi maybe? On the other hand if in Disney for say a week - try and talk the kids into leaving Disney to come to Tampa, for what? An old cigar factory, the bars in Ybor City, hot secretarys walking downtown? maybe the aquarium but I doubt that.

I still wonder at 68 miles that being a 22 min trip @ 180mph - hardly even get it going before your slowing down - would only make sense to a Government worker.

[Dixon Cruickshank]

Misspelled vain - BUT on the same topic we already have an Amtrak station they just remodled for 3mill about 5 yrs ago a few blocka away - although to get Orlando or Miami you have to ride a bus from the station 50 miles to Winter Haven to catch the train going from Miami to NY - Amtrak is not allowed to start and end a route within a state - so no trains can run from Tampa to anywhere in state - brillent huh. I used to send my son to grandma's in West Palm so learned all about it.