State Senator Vince Fumo was a master at bringing home the bacon from Harrisburg. He delivered millions of dollars in state aid for libraries, hospitals, and other projects in Philadelphia during the course of his career. Fumo was never shy about taking credit and never missed an opportunity to have his picture taken with a giant check delivered to some worthy organization.
However, Fumo's way of doing things has critics. At least one lawmaker in Harrisburg thinks that it's time for these photo-ops with politicians and giant checks to end. Senator John Eichelberger refused to join other state officials for a photo with a mock check for $2.9 million. The money was state aid for local economic development. According to a post on Eichelberger's blog, he feels that these pictures send the wrong message to taxpayers:
My reason for not participating in the photo is that this is government money, not my money. I don’t think that it is appropriate to stand next to a government check and take credit for doing my job as a government official. Also, in this case and many others, I don’t deserve any of the credit since I didn’t do anything to help with this project. The people of Pennsylvania would be surprised to learn that very often the officials standing up and taking credit for the project in today’s paper have nothing to do with that project.
Link: Eichelberger's blog
Also: How Do They "Bring Home the Bacon"?