如果你看过这个视频,有两点值得提出来。第一,就是麦肯的一段话,谈到政客因为 earmark 而犯罪的事实。他说,"猪耳朵专款是一种导致上瘾的毒品。是一种失控花钱和腐败的药引子。由于猪耳朵专款和猪肉桶花钱的邪恶,我们一些前国会议员今天在蹲联邦的大狱。。。。它完全失控了,它腐化政客。这是一种必须加以清除掉的制度。(Earmark is a gateway drug, a gateway of out of control spending and corruption. And we have formal members of congress, now residing in federal prison, because of the evil of earmarking and pork barrel spending.....It's gone completely out of control to the point where it corrupts people, that's why, as I have said, people under federal indictment and charges. It's a system that got to be cleaned up. )制度一经生成,就有可能异化,它可以改变人。所以麦肯说:“我们共和党人为了改变政府来到华盛顿,但是这个政府改变了我们。”(“We republicans, come to power to change government, and government changed us")虽然我多次讲过,我在谈论民主体制的弊端的时候,主要是从资本所做出的“合法的制度性的安排“角度来看问题。既然合法,我不把它叫做贪污或者贪腐,或者犯罪什么的。所以这个制度本身在美国并不非法,但是,它确实会导致犯罪。麦肯所说的那些议员中的一个,就是出自圣迭戈,本人碰巧还知道此人。出事之前,也是看上去人模人样的政治家。
第二,就是 earmark 与院外游说(Lobbying)和特殊利益集团(special interest groups)的密切关系。奥巴马的讲演中明确了这一点。他说:"参议员麦肯正确地指出,通常是那些院外游说和特殊利益集团提出猪耳朵专款这类的要求”(He (Senator Mckain) is also right that often of the times that lobbyist and special interests groups are the ones that introduce this kind of requests. )奥巴马,作为个中人,指出说客和猪耳朵条款的关系,应该是不会有错的了。但是奥巴马没有而且也不会明言的,是谁是这些利益掮客的大老板,和谁是这些利益掮客事业的受益人。