User:Toussaint/Porkulus

The neologism porkulus is American political jargon that is used as a pejorative description of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ("Stimulus Bill"). It is a play on words meaning a pork barrel spending bill thinly disguised as an "economic stimulus bill". The term is also a homonym for "porculus," the Latin species name for the extinct Guadalcanal Rat.

Historical origins
The term comes from a January 29, 2009 Wall Street Journal editorial by the conservative American talk radio host, Rush Limbaugh.

Examples of usage
In 2009 in the referenced column: "This 'porkulus' bill is designed to repair the Democratic Party's power losses from the 1990s forward, and to cement the party's majority power for decades." Also in 2009, Marc Comtois of Anchor Rising writes: "Ben Stein (h/t) boils the "porkulus" package down" Also in 2009, FreeRepublic staff write: "Democrats are continuing their attacks on talk radio icon Rush Limbaugh over his opposition to what he has described as "Obama's Porkulus Bill."

Media usage
30 January 2009. "GOP Stakes Its Claim With Stimulus Vote," Perry Bacon Jr. and Paul Kane, Washington Post.