Economic studies have concluded that a new bill lowering the trade restrictions on the importation of sugar would be good for the economy. President Sweet Tooth highlights the results of this study in his state of the union address and sends the "Sweet Tooth" bill to Congress. Another economic study declares that subsidizing coal mining and orange growing have both been found to be economically inefficient in that the costs outweigh the benefits. However, a subsidy on coal mining would help the coal producers in West Virginia and a subsidy on orange growing would help the orange farmers in Florida. So when the "Sweet Tooth" bill makes its way through congress the senators from West Virginia and Florida will only vote for it if they have their coal-mining and orange-growing subsidies attached to it. The bill gets to President Sweet Tooth with these and other economically inefficient subsidies attached to it, and he passes the bill in its entirety. Which term best describes what just happened?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This scenario describes pork-barrel legislation, which is when lawmakers attach specific provisions to a bill in order to benefit their own constituencies, even if those provisions are economically inefficient or unrelated to the main purpose of the bill.

Economic Studies Have Concluded That a New Bill Lowering the Trade