Pork and Bears

It's frustrating watching the stimulus bill be held up and criticized because of allegations of pork contained within, as if we know anything about what the pork actually aims to accomplish. It's easy to look at the provision's title and label it wasteful, but more difficult to actually determine its merits. It reminds me of John McCain, during the 2008 presidential election, decrying the notion of the federal government spending $3 million to study bear DNA. McCain joked repeatedly during the campaign, even during a commercial and a debate, that he didn't know whether it was a criminal or paternal issue. Yuk, yuk, yuk.

Turns out the study employed about 200 people over five years and was able to document the bear population at significantly higher numbers than expected. Those results could likely lead to the grizzly bear's removal from the endangered species list, which would open areas to development and logging that had previously been restricted. As former Republican Governor of Montana (and McCain backer) Judy Martz said during the campaign, "unless you live among these issues it is pretty hard to understand what is going on." We should keep that lesson in mind as we pursue an all-important stimulus plan.