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September 20, 2005

Maine's Pork, Cont.

Michael Barone wonders about the political value of pork:

A worthy idea, and one that raises the question, an uncomfortable one surely for many congressmen, of whether voters really value pork barrel projects. Of course some interested parties do, but do most voters?
(h/t: Heh) Short answer? No. Pork coming to Maine irritates me as much as pork going to other states. Searching through my congressional delegation's websites, I've found some other projects that quality as wasteful government spending:
$4,154,730 to the Greenville Airport to rehabilitate and reconstruct its runway. Greenville - population 1,623

$2.8 million for the Penobscot Riverfront Development project for bicycle trails, amenities, and traffic circulation improvements in Bangor

$1 million to construct a bicycle and pedestrian bridge over the Stillwater River in Orono

$500,000 for improvements to the Interconnecting Trail System for bike and pedestrian trails in the Katahdin region

$4 million for general construction plus multi-use trail and snowmobile accommodations for the Route 116 Bridge in Medway

$250,800 to Bar Harbor for new buses to enhance commuting near the Jackson Laboratories

$250,000 to support increased signage, mapping, and access for the Northern Forest Canoe Trail

$1 million to fund improvements for the scenic roadways in the Rangeley Lake region to ensure that Mainers and visitors can enjoy rich natural beauty of area.

$1,205,855 to the Bar Harbor airport. Gotta keep those celebrity jets coming in

Many of these pork projects were found on Senator Olympia Snowe's website. Snowe is a major supporter of the so-called 'pay as you go' budgeting plan that would offset any tax cuts with either matching spending cuts or other ways to raise money. However, Snowe shows no interest whatsoever in spending cuts but I guess as long as she pretends to care about spending, she can keep opposing those evil tax cuts.

More pork as I find it.

Posted by slublog at September 20, 2005 12:42 AM

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Comments

How much to Greenville?!? My word.... well, they're all pretty bad.

Posted by: Katie at September 19, 2005 11:02 PM

I remember in economics class how they talked about the idea that the worse the economy is doing the more pork you will see. Like some sort of an attempt to stimulate the economy by taking more money from them and spending it in a way that might provide some sort of temporary jobs. Sounded like a dumb idea to me at the time, and it still does now. I don't remember having a difficult time walking across the Orono bridge, or riding my bike across it, and I have done hundreds of times, literally.

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