287,140 views
31 votes
31 votes
What are two views about pork-barrel projects

User Frederick Heald
by
2.9k points

1 Answer

28 votes
28 votes

Step-by-step explanation:

Pork barrel politics affect the economy in several ways. Pork barrel spending occurs when the government earmarks funds to be spent in a specific region of the country, usually as a favor to an elected representative from that region.

Such government spending often confers an economic benefit to the region involved, with the money typically going toward infrastructure and other projects that create jobs and improve quality of life. However, the effect on the rest of the country is negative, with taxpayers shouldering the cost of these pork barrel projects without receiving the benefits.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

Pork-barrel spending is when taxpayer funds and government spending are used to help a specific group or other special interests.

Until Congress put a lid on it a decade ago, legislators often attempted to add "earmarks" to broad legislative bills that would only benefit the lawmaker's state or district.

Pork-barrel spending hurts the economy by using taxpayer funds to benefit a specific group while failing to support others simultaneously.

House Democrats have recently proposed reviving earmark spending, under the name "community project funding."

According to Citizens Against Government Waste, there were 285 earmarks in the 2021 budget, costing a total of $16.8 billion.

hope this helps.

User Jags
by
2.7k points