ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the 'pork barrel' projects. Dipping into the pork barrel is an old story on Capitol Hill. Two factors, however, differentiate military pork from such traditional examples of pork as water projects and roads: the "national security" label and the enormous sums involved. Even the somewhat-reduced post-Cold War military budgets offer a cornucopia for legislators looking to bring home the bacon for their constituents. The chapter also provides an illuminating case study in the dynamics of defense politics. It further argues that Members of Congress should want more jobs for their constituents, especially as manufacturing employment becomes more uncertain. But in dipping into the military pork barrel to reach that goal, they distort the country's priorities, block fresh approaches to military policy, and undermine the search for new, well-paid, long-term jobs in the civilian economy.
