>Taxpayers are going to vote for the politician who is good at bringing home the pork. Voters will complain about pork-barrel spending in other districts, but they will vote for the one who brings home the most in their district. In my opinion, it's the voters, not the politician who are to blame. The voters have set up a system that rewards a politicion for bringing home the bacon. I don't think we can blame them for playing by those rules.

That's part of the concept too, as I agree with your point. The idea is to force the taxpayers into a choice between pork & a tax cut. Since tax cuts go to almost everyone, but pork doesn't, I think tax cuts will win out.