Pork-barrel politics

Posted by ESC on October 11, 2003

In Reply to: Pork-barrel politics posted by michel on October 11, 2003

: Where does this come from?

PORK BARREL - "the state or national treasury, into which politicians and government officials dip for 'pork,' or funds for local projects.The phrase probably is derived from the pre-Civil War practice of periodically distributing salt pork to the slaves from huge barrels." From Safire's New Political Dictionary by William Safire (Random House, New York, 1993).