Pork Barrel Spending Quotes
While this is a common complaint in the American political dialogue at the beginning of the 21st century, it is interesting that this was the conclusion of a foreign political scholar studying that period—one who was generally a great admirer of America.
This is a perennial problem whenever the Chief's of Staff want to cut any program. Even if the program is a failure or is no longer needed Congress fights cuts tooth and nail. Then they make speeches decrying government spending and especially waste, when the vast majority of the waste is in programs or operations upon which they have insisted.
The Republicans who won control of Congress in 2000 with a Republican President had campaigned on the principle of smaller government and no deficits. In the next 8 years they spent more than any Congress in history and twice as much as President Clinton had in the previous 8 years not counting military spending and entitlements which were much greater.
