Reply #16: I always thought he should have left "congressional" in there, but he [View All]

[MADem]

was a gentle fellow.

The only way to get round the Congressional influence, really, is to even distribute/weigh the pork, I guess. Each state gets an amount of pork based on a calcuation that includes their population, their contribution to the GDP, their contribution to the defense establishment, and so forth. Figuring out how to create a formula, and tweaking it continuously so no one can cheat, would be the problem (and it might be insurmountable, really). It's a bit more difficult than, say, Howard Dean levelling the playing field by funding the VT schools on a statewide, rather than a town-by-town basis, but that sort of formula might be a start. Of course, then politicians would then have to be elected on their VIEWS on issues, not their pork-bringing abilities--so the Trent Lotts of this world would fight that sort of change tooth-and-nail!