11/30/2008:
°Joe the Plumber° and the °Bridge to Nowhere°—they’re two of the new clichés we heard throughout this election year.
Political clichés are nothing new, but you might be surprised to find out the Garrison Dam was once considered a pork-barrel project like that Bridge to Nowhere. In fact, the dam and other water projects were considered °worse than pork-barrel" by some legislators and funding was almost denied because, according to New York Representative John Taber, °?even the sponsors and the Army Engineers can’t agree. They are millions of dollars apart on the potential value of the projects.°
As you know, funding was passed on this day in 1945 and the dam was built. But for a moment, the dam could have become a cliché for pork-barrel funding, much like that Bridge to Nowhere.
Source:
°Rivers Fund Restoration Fight Begun, Showdown in House Likely Wednesday; Year’s Loss Feared,° World Herald, Nov. 27, 1945
°Fund Resotred for Projects on Missouri River; Flood Levee at Omaha is Among Plans; Garrison Dam Height Held to 1,830 Feet; Limit to be Fought,° Lorne Kennedy, World-Herald Washington Bureau, Nov. 30. 1945