“Watch your step! This is a loading dock, remember.” “What kind of goods are you handling here, Chief?” “Everything the government has on order. See that crate?” “Yes, a neat shipping container.” “Wait till you see inside. Just open it, and it starts inflating like a balloon. It’ll take up the whole room if you let it.” “What’s it called?” “Prescription drug coverage for senior citizens. But it could be any add-on to Medicare. Any entitlement for that matter. Congress has them shipped here all the time. Like that stuff over there.” “You mean that huge pile of crates• Discolored by dirt and grass stains, corn stalks sticking out, all stained with sugar beet juice?” “That’s farm subsidies. What billions in tax money goes for, and nobody complains about it the way they do about the war. Congress’d starve without a steady diet every day. Not to mention ethanol subsidies for more corn. Plus what’s in all those barrels yonder.” “Filled with?” “Pork. Those are pork barrels, loaded with public works that aren’t needed, but that funnel taxpayer money to construction companies and unions back home. Would you believe $435 million for a tunnel under a river in Pittsburgh• To add one subway stop?” “But wait, Chief, a big ugly container just backed up to the dock. It says, ‘Hazardous!’ and ‘Toxic!’ What can be in there?” “Gosh, I hate to see another load of that stuff! It’s legalized gambling. The politicians keep wanting it, so we’ve got to keep unloading it. The worst!” “How so, Chief?” “It sucks money straight out of the pockets of low- and middle-income people, typical losers to ‘the house.’ And gives it to special interests, already well-heeled, that turn around and take care of the politicians. Nobody can come near that stuff without picking up the smell. Some things event urn the stomach of a guy on the loading dock.” “But it has all that fancy wrapping around it.” “Packaging. It’ll tell you gambling will help schools. Or cut real estate taxes or save the horse-racing industry. Just packaging. Trust me, it’s garbage.” “But wait, a whole line of trucks is heading this way. What can it all be?” “More entitlements, I’d bet. For every racial, ethnic, age and gender group. Aid to go to college and go to preschool, to buy a house, pay the doctor’s bill, and if you’re a corporation in no need of help at all, to build a fancy office building.’ ” “Why don’t they just deliver packages like that right up the front steps?” “Everybody knows that. Because if government in control of everything ever comes to America, it’s got to be by the back door.”

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