This election cycle, much ado is being made about the evils of pork barrel spending. Politicians are attempting to appear conscientious and trustworthy by vowing to put an end to pork barrel spending. Unfortunately, all this talk is just a shell game–it’s intended to distract voters from the real issue, which is government spending period.

Look at it this way. The US government appropriates BILLIONS of dollars at a time for war, murder and other unsavory practices. It also carries a debt in the multiple trillions of dollars. In the face of other government spending and debt, pork barrel spending is like dropping a penny on the street. It takes more effort to bend over and pick it up than it’s even worth. The real issue is that the American people continue to allow the US government to engage in wars on terror, drug wars, wars on illiteracy–are you seeing a common theme here? The government makes everything a war because if we’re at war, no expense is too great. Billions and even trillions of dollars in spending are therefore justified. And it’s ok to carry a debt almost as great as the GDP of every nation on the entire planet combined because we’re at war, folks.

It’s time to wake up to the illusion that the politicians are trying to blind us with. Pork barrel spending is a problem, but it is not the problem that deserves most of our attention. Wasteful government spending comes in all shapes and sizes, and pork barrel spending is only the smallest portion of it. In the face of a $10 TRILLION (or so?) national debt, a $5 million dollar add on to a congressional bill is absolutely nothing. Don’t believe me? Compare the national debt and a typical pork barrel add on:

NATIONAL DEBT                   $10,197,487,189,238.78

PORK BARREL                                       $5,000,000.00

Now tell me, dear taxpayer, are you going to fight the easy fight? Or are you going to fight the good fight?