Sen. James Inhofe, a Republican from Oklahoma, argued that there is no comparison between Hurricane Sandy relief, which he voted against last fall, and aid for his state in the wake of Monday’s devastating tornado because the two are “totally different.”
Inhofe contended on Tuesday that the Hurricane Sandy relief bill was different because it was filled with pork. “They were getting things, for instance, that was supposed to be in New Jersey,” he said on MSNBC. “They had things in the Virgin Islands. They were fixing roads there, they were putting roofs on houses in Washington, D.C. Everybody was getting in and exploiting the tragedy that took place. That won’t happen in Oklahoma.”
To his point, I’m not a fan of government pork and have a hard time understanding how so much of it gets into bills. For instance, when the health care bill passed, a change regarding student loans was attached to it. It should have just been two different bills. I’m guessing it’s done for efficiency, like voting for 100 bills instead of 10,000 bills, and the likelihood of them getting passed or overlooked is increased.