Which of the following is the best example of pork-barrel legislation?
A)Adding an appropriations request for a needless federal program to an opponent's bill that is already in process in order to diminish the bill's likelihood of getting passed.
B)Budgeting for a defense contract without hearing competitive bids for the project (overspending).
C)A legislator proposing a bill to create a land developing commission in his home state that will ultimately employ his political associates and family members.
D)Money appropriated to research the effects of rising ocean levels on marine life along the Louisiana coast.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Money appropriated to a research project that only studies the marine life of coastal Louisiana is the best example of pork-barrel legislation (or pork-barrel spending). Pork-barreling is the legislative appropriation of federal money to fund a project that only benefits a small group of people (rather than the whole electorate). Representatives and senators typically add pork-barrel legislation to a bill in order to gain votes from the portion of their constituency that benefits from the pork-barrel spending (in the aforementioned example that would be marine biologists or researchers). Answer (A) is really just a dirty trick, possibly an act of sabotage. Answer (B) could be the result of laziness or a conflict of interest in which the legislator benefitted from awarding the government contract to the winner of the non-competitive bid. Answer (C) is an example of cronyism (when hiring friends) and/or nepotism (when hiring family).

Which of the Following Is the Best Example of Pork-Barrel