Call me slow

I finally figured out that all this Pork posting supposed to prove that Tom Delay's silly claim about there being no more fat to cut in the federal budget. I can't believe anybody really thought that needed refutation.

I think that there's a difference between pork and fat in the minds of member of Congress, and after the Roberts hearings, I use the term "minds" advisedly. To them, "fat" means something you can eliminate and still get a budget passed. "Pork" means the ordinary and necessary cost of getting vital legislation passed. We all can look at the budget and spot money for a museum of the White Tailed Prairie Dog as pure lard, but what's a million or two for a vote to get the Transportation Bill passed? That's one of the facts of life for legislators. Every one of them wants to horse trade, and usually all they've got is dog food to deal with, but when a big bill comes barreling through, every man's a king.

I'm only half kidding.

Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown.